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STEPHENSON v. STATE:
Testimony of Defense Witnesses (Excerpts)
Nov. 4- Nov. 9, 1925  Defense attorney Eph Inman Inman:
Bichloride of mercury is known to your
profession as one of the most deadly
poisons, is it not?
Smiley: It is. Inman: What Is regarded as a fatal dose? Smiley: The lowest minimum dose to be fatal is said to be Inman: Suppose six tablets were dropped into a glass of water, and drunk by a person--would the absorption take place more readily because the tablets had been dissolved? Smiley: It would...[He suggests that kidney deterioration would begin within 30 minutes.] Inman: If a large quantity of bichloride of mercury were taken Smiley: If allowed to remain on the skin for thirty minutes or an hour, it would. [Inman asked what, in the doctor's opinion, was the likely cause of death in a hyptothetical case that matched the facts of this case.] Smiley: Bichloride of mercury. Cross-examination by Charles Cox: Cox: Have you practiced in his [Stephenson's] house? Smiley: Yes. I have
seen
the gentleman out there a time or two.
Cox: [How many] cases of mercury poisoning have you treated? Smiley: [I have treated about thirty cases...] Some, I think were very profound, and some were mild; most of them died. Cox: And how many of the thirty of your patients got well? Smiley: Most were vaginal cases, nearly all cases will get well if you get them early, before absorption takes place. [The "vaginal cases" refers to the fact that mercury bichloride, was sometimes used by women to abort pregnancies.] [Kane protested that the witness had not answered the question; Judge Sparks ordered the question repeated.] Smiley: I can't say definitely, but those that took it by the mouth, Cox: How many of them took it by the mouth? Smiley: I don't remember. Cox: You have no recollection of that? Have you made any Smiley: Some of them I have a record of, and some of them I do Cox: And you have no recollection how many bichloride poisoning cases you had where Smiley: At
least twenty.
Cox: At least twenty?
Smiley: Yes.
Cox: And what
percent of them got well? Smiley: Not
more than ten percent of them. Cox: Not more than ten percent?
Smiley: Two or three.
Cox: Two or three of them got well?...
Cox: Are you absolutely sure bichloride of
mercury caused her death?
Smiley: Reasonably sure.
Cox: But you said a while ago that you were absolutely
sure. Are you still absolutely
sure? Smiley: Yes.
Cox: Where did you read that any of those cases was when
the stomach was full, where did you?
Smiley: Well, for instance, I read Blair, an English
toxicologist, he is the--I read Solomon, I read
Bosider and Wood.”
Cox: And did you read that in Witthouse?
Smiley: Woods, Clark, Landers, another English
toxicologist,
Milt, etc.. etc.
Cox: You have
read those within the past two or
three weeks?
Cox: Most of
them?
Smiley:
Yes.
Cox: Well, you
were familiar with Witthouse's
book?
Smiley:
No, I don't
know anything about it.
Cox: Oh, I
thought you did.
Smiley:
No, I didn't
make that statement, I don't
know anything--
Cox: You don't know anything about Witthouse's book at all? Smiley:
No.
Cox: Do you know
whether Witthouse is a recognized
authority on toxicology?
Smiley:
I don't know
anything about it.
Cox: And don't you
know, Doctor, that that book reports
five hundred
sixty-five cases running from 1879 to
1910 which were treated in hospitals: well-authenticated cases, don't
you know
that?
Smiley:
I don't know
whether Witthouse is a law book or some other kind of
book, I don't know anything about it.
Cox: And you say
you don't know he reports five hundred sixty-five
cases?
Smiley:
That is what
I said, three times.
Cox: And that
three hundred and two of them only were
fatal?...You spoke of your familiarity
with
Blair?
Smiley:
Yes.
Cox: How many
cases of mercuric poisoning does Blair
report, Doctor?
Smiley:
I believe
thirty-six, I believe in the article I just
referred to, in the
chapter I referred to.
Cox: Just
thirty-six? Have you any knowledge at all, Doctor, as to whether
the
percentage of fatalities as stated by Blair was ninety percent, more or
less?
Smiley:
He says
sixty-one percent, specific-no, one percent
of what he--
Cox: How was that?
Smiley:
This
paragraph merely dealt-that I have in mind,
merely dealt with
the time of death after taking the
bichloride.
Cox: And you are
testifying here as an
expert?
Smiley:
Theoretically--
Cox: And after losing ninety percent of your mercurial poisoning cases, you consider yourself an expert?
Smiley: Circumstances-- Cox: No
further questions.
Smiley: Circumstances
alter cases.
Smiley:
[No.]
Cox: Don't
you
know Dr.
John W. Williams?
Smiley: [No.] Cox: You mean to say you don't know him-never heard of him before? Smiley: [Yes, that's right....]
Cox:
Where did you get this book [Blythe's Works' on Toxicology]?
Smiley: Another
doctor loaned it to me.
Cox:
Who was the
other doctor?
Smiley: I don't know who it belongs to.
Smiley: I was
graduated in 1908.
Smiley: "No, sir. I
taught pharmaceutics and
toxicology last year in Indiana
Veterinary
College... Cox: You have
some veterinary remedies?
Smiley: "No, I am not
altogether a 'hoss'
doctor. Cox: Did you ever have any connection with the Veterinary Remedy Company?
Smiley: [Yes.]
Smiley: [Yes.] Cox:
Again, let me ask you, Doctor, you
spoke, if I remember correctly, of another authority on toxicology
called 'Milt'?
. . . When did you read that?
Smiley: I have seen
it every day for the last two
years.
Smiley: It is a book
of about five hundred pages,
I think.
Smiley: Yes, sir, it
is.
Smiley: It is all the
same.
Cox:
You told us
yesterday, as I recall, that you never had treated the defendant
Stephenson in
his home in Irvington?
Smiley: Yes. Sir.
Smiley: I saw him
once at one hospital.
Cox:
Which
hospital?
Cox: What is the fact as to whether you ever did treat him
for delirium
tremens or alcoholism?
Smiley: I can't say that I ever
treated him for delirium tremens.
Cox: Did you ever treat him or prescribe for him for
alcoholism?
Smiley: Not
alcoholism alone, no."
Cox: For alcoholism in part?
Smiley: Yes,
one
time he was a little
nervous and had been losing a lot of sleep, and he might have had a
little
alcohol, I don't know...I didn't see him take any...
Cox: You say 'not alone,' Doctor-what else? Smiley: Loss of sleep and overwork and exertion, et cetera- -nervousness.
Robinson: A great many cases, running into the hundreds.
Inman: In the
case of Madge Oberholtzer, did you designate
some officer to conduct a post-mortem
examination of the
body?
Robinson:Yes. Dr.
Virgil H. Moon. Inman: Did you see the body of Madge Oberholtzer?
Robinson: Yes, I did.
Inman: Did you
notice any bruises or wounds on
her body?
Robinson: None that attracted my attention.
Inman: Did you
notice any abrasions on the
breast?
Robinson: No, I did
not.
Inman: You held the
inquest in the case of
the death of Madge Oberholtzer?
Robinson: Yes... Inman:
When you
render a verdict as to the
cause of death, do you file it with the
clerk of the court?
Inman:
....Doctor, assuming the facts and conditions to have existed as I
have
described them, what, In your judgment, caused the death of Madge
Oberholtzer?
Robinson: I'd say
death was due to mercurial
poisoning, from taking bichloride of mercury.
. Testimony of Dr. J.
D. Moschelle, an Indianapolis doctor
Inman: Is there any certainty that medical aid would
have
even prolonged the
patient's life?
Moschelle:
There is no
certainty, but I think
the aid given her undoubtedly did prolong her life.
Cox:
Dr. Moschelle, the character of the questions which
the state will
ask you may depend somewhat on your
answer to the question I shall now ask you. Do you wish
your testimony here to be regarded as that of an expert witness on
bichloride
of mercury poisoning or merely as that of a physician and surgeon
engaged in
the general practice?"
Moschelle:
I expect that to be merely as a physician and
surgeon engaged in the general practice.
Cox: You have no special claims to expert knowledge as a
toxicologist, Doctor, as I understand it?
Moschelle: Not as a toxicologist, no.
Cox: And while you know, of course, something about
pathology,
you make no claims to being an expert pathologist?
Moschelle: I do not....
Cox:
And, Doctor, if they could have prolonged her life by giving her
help-- Moscehlle: They could have prolonged her life and they did prolong her life. Cox:
And if that
medical attention that
she received after she got home had been given her twenty-four hours
before,
her life might have been still further
prolonged, might it not,
Doctor?
Moschelle: It may have.Cox:
And, Doctor, if the staphylococci infection was introduced
into the
patient's system by a bite of the man in
the berth with her, and that staphylococci infection had caused the
high temperature,
the pus in the blood which the fighting soldiers of the blood were
called into
service to overcome, and which caused the abscess in the lower lobe of
the
lung, that might have been an instrument in
shortening her life, might it not?
Moschelle: It might
have, yes, sir.
Testimony of Dr. Vallery Ailstock, a
dentist
Ailstock:
Well, I was standing on the
corner of Fifth and Washington streets [in January 1925], talking
with Dr. Clawson,
a friend of
mine. And it happened that I lived in an
apartment
at that corner, and there was a large automobile drove by to the curb
and somebody
said, "Well, hello, Doc!" We looked up. It was Mr. Stephenson. We
stepped over
to the curbing and down in the street by the
side of the car where he had
parked and shook hands with him, passed the time of day, and he says,
"Well,
boys?" Then he introduced us to Miss Oberholtzer....Well, Mr.
Stephenson turned the
conversation then...Well, I talked to Mr. Stephenson regarding the
trip that
he made to Columbus once before, and I invited him down to fishing and
he said
that he would come, and I walked around the other side of the car to
talk to
Mr. Stephenson personally and talked, I think, probably five minutes.
And I
heard Mr. Clawson say,
"Well, maybe Ailstock has some, I
don't. I don't use it." And on hearing my name, I says, "What is that?"
And
Clawson said, "Well, there was something said about alcohol and liquor
and I
told her that I didn't use it, being a chiropractor, but you, being a
dentist,
would probably have some.' And I says, "No, I don't use it, my position
does
not allow it and I don't use alcohol in my practice. I don't even have
an
alcohol permit." And Mr. Stephenson said, "Well, that is enough of
that, now."
He says, "You are not feeling any too well this evening, anyway." And
that was
the turn of the conversation. Something was said then in regard
to-between Mr.
Stephenson and I-about the purchase of the Indiana Dental College; I
told him I
had been approached by...
Holmes: Did Miss Oberholtzer engage in that conversation? Ailstock: She did...She said that was strange, that I ought to Holmes: What are you referring to that you "ought to have"? Ailstock:
Alcohol.
Ailstock: I saw her
once after that in Stephenson's
office.Holmes: Did you see her any more after that? Ailstock. It
was shortly after or just
before that night. I don't know which, I was up there on the dental
college
matter...
Holmes: Where was Miss Oberholtzer? Ailstock: She was sitting in the reception room.
Rigdon:
She was just sitting there. [Rigdon testified that later
Stephenson, Oberholtzer, and himself went to Stephenson's hotel
room where they drank gin. He said after he left the room,
Stephenson and Madge remained in the room together.]
Cross-examination
by Kane:
Kane: Now when you got to the room,
you say Madge Oberholtzer and
Stephenson were in the
room?
Rigdon:
When I got
there-yes.
Kane: And when you
got in--
Rigdon: I had talked
my business with Stephenson
on the outside.
Kane: But had no
conversation about your
business?
Rigdon: Not this
particular business I went to
see.
Kane: After you went in you remember you took a drink of gin?
Kane: Stephenson
had a supply of gin?
Rigdon: There was a
bottle of gin . I don’t know whose it was.
Kane: Well was he
handling it?
Rigdon: No, I don't
know as he was.
Kane: Who
suggested that you have that drink of
gin?
Rigdon:
I don't
recall who made the suggestion.
Kane: Did you see
any bottle of gin before It
was offered?
Rigdon: No, I don't
recall....
Kane: Did you
suggest you were a little dry and
would have a drink?
Rigdon: No, I don't
think I suggested that.
Kane: But you are
very positive that you took a
glass of gin, and that Madge
took a
drink?
Rigdon: Yes. Sir.
Kane: Now don't
you know there is not a word of
truth in that -that you
didn't see the girl at that hotel at
all.
Holmes:
To which the
defendants object.
Kane:
And
that the statement that the gin was
drunk at that time is a
plain lie, don't you know that!?
Rigdon: No, sir.
Holmes: We
object to
that, Your Honor.
Kane:
And that you came here for
the
express purpose of committing perjury and that everything you said on
that subject
is a lie!?
Rigdon: You are not
big enough to
tell me that on the street!
Judge Sparks:
Answer that question and you can do
what you please on the street.
Judge Sparks:
Now, gentlemen, I want you to understand right now this is not a
justice
of the peace court. This is a place where you are
going to have to conduct
yourselves properly, and if you can't conduct yourselves properly on
both
sides, I am going to get somebody that will.
Rigdon:
It's not
fair to me!
Kane: You're a close friend
of Stephenson, aren't
Rigdon: No!
Kane:
Now what was your business before
you went with the state
committee?
Rigdon: Give me a roster and I will name everyone that was there... |