100 years ago in Spokane: The Corbin mansion arson trial turned even more contentious when a prosecutor had to testify for the defense

William C. Meyer, the prosecutor in the Louis Lilge arson case, was forced to take the stand and testify – in favor of the defendant.

This turned combative. In fact, the judge had to reprimand the prosecutor and the defense attorney for arguing bitterly with each other. Meyer, at one point, accused the defense attorney of lying.

Meyer was called to the stand in order to explain the circumstances around Anna Corbin’s confession. The defense was attempting to rebut Corbin’s confession, in which she said that she and caretaker Lilge conspired to burn down the landmark Corbin house in order to split the insurance money.

The defense was attempting to show that the confession was tainted. The defense attorney also accused Meyer of, in essence, withholding evidence that was favorable to Lilge.

Another defense strategy was to insinuate that Alfred Larson, the teenage nephew of Corbin, was connected with the fire. Larson turned in the fire alarm that night, but the defense made an issue of the fact that Larson had trouble operating the fire alarm box on the sidewalk. Eventually, a passing motorist had to stop and help him.

As the defense pursued its case, it became clear that the defense was attempting to show that there was no evidence against Lilge apart from Corbin’s confession.

On this day

(From Associated Press)

1947: “The Diary of a Young Girl,” the personal journal of Anne Frank, a German-born Jewish girl hiding with her family from the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II, was first published.