The Loeb-Leopold case - The Clarence Darrow Collection

The Loeb-Leopold Case
life, that he hadn't selected or thought of any
profession, that is an indication he is mentally un-
balanced; and because the other defendant had a
definite ambition in life, he is also mentally un-
balanced.
A happy philosophy of medicine, especially when
you are testifying in a guilty case, and trying to
cheat the gallows. It is too bad that they have two
defendants here. It would be so much easier to
prove one insane, because anything you found in
him could be a bad sign. But when you have two,
and they are not exactly alike, when one has broken
arches and the other has a high arch, why, then, it
has got to be a bad sign in one and a bad sign in the
other. And if one has to shave every day, that is
a bad sign; and if the other does not have to shave
but twice a week, that is a bad sign. It was a bad
sign that Richard Loeb did not have any definite
aim or purpose in life, and it was also a bad sign
because Leopold wanted to study law and ornith-
ology.
Well, let us see what Dr. Hulbert says about this:
" When the patient " — that is Loeb — " was asked
about what use he expected to make of his educa-
tion, and what were his ambitions, he stated he
expected to study law the next year. He said he
had always intended to study law."
And yet when they were putting on their defense,
everybody had him wandering around like a ship
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