Jim Kershner’s this day in history
From our archives, 100 years ago
A Spokane accountant on trial for forgery claimed the Jekyll-and-Hyde defense: He said he occasionally lost control of his faculties and committed crimes he couldn’t remember.
He said his mind was a blank “for months at a time” around the time he was charged with forging hundreds of dollars worth of bank drafts. In fact, he said he had no recollection of an entire trip he made to Virginia.
When asked if he was divorced, he said, “I do not know. I have been told I was divorced from her.”
His physician testified that he could tell when the defendant was suffering from this mysterious malady because he would show up in the doctor’s office, disheveled and disoriented.
The defendant claimed his mental troubles were caused by “congestion of the nasal passages.”
From the dope beat: A young woman was arrested for vagrancy after she was found wandering aimlessly downtown.
She told police that she had been addicted to cocaine and morphine since she was 8 years old. Her father introduced her to drugs.
She told the judge that she did not want to be “cured” of her habit.
She merely wanted to be allowed to leave and care for her baby daughter.