The Loeb-Leopold case - The Clarence Darrow Collection

The Loeb-Leopold Case
what happened was the very natural thing that
would happen in a situation like that, namely, that
Mr. Crowe would doubt their sanity; and doubting
their sanity, he sent for Dr. Patrick, Dr. Church
and Dr. Krohn, who came on Sunday.
They went through what I regard as a farcical per-
formance, and not alone farcical, but there was some-
thing terrible about it. Here is a proceeding being
conducted in the office of the State's Attorney of
Cook County, at which there are present anywhere
from fifteen people up. Dr. Patrick comes into the
room, and carries on a little conversation with
Nathan Leopold, Jr., about birds, about ornithology.
A Httle later Dr. Krohn comes in and they have a
little conversation about psychology, about various
tests out at the university.
Then they go dowTi in the jail yard, and see the
automobile. But before that, Loeb tells the story
of this crime. There are a few interruptions, and
comments back and forth by Nathan Leopold, Jr.,
and Loeb, and arguments between them as to which
one struck the fatal blow. Then the State's alienists
leave, and they are ready upon such observations
to come into court and give testimony, the effect of
which may send two human beings to the gallows.
These alienists, if your Honor please, testified
that these boys are not mentally diseased, because
they did not show evidence of mental disease.
Their evidence is based entirely upon negative
findings. Now, it is a well known principle of logic
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