The Loeb-Leopold case - The Clarence Darrow Collection

The Loeb-Leopold Case
now has mentally a decided degree of discrepancy, a dis-
eased discrepancy between his judgment and emotions on the
one hand, and his intellect on the other hand.
Q. Mr. Crowe asked you whether the number of sweet-
hearts that Richard Loeb had would not indicate a depth of
emotion. I will ask you now to state whether or not the
large number would not indicate a shallowness of emotion.
A. It depends upon whether he had them all at one time.
If he had many sweethearts all at one time, his emotions of
course were shallow. The man who truly loves his sweet-
heart has no room in his heart for anyone else at that time.
Mr. Crowe: Doctor, may I interrupt; are you also an ex-
pert on love and love-making?
The Witness: Only in so far as it has neuro-psychiatric
importance.
Mr. Crowe: Now, doctor, you do not think very much of
Loeb's judgment, do you?
A. No, sir.
Q. Will you give me some illustration of his lack of judgment?
A. Yes, sir. The greatest illustration is that he, a boy
with opportunities far higher than the average boy in Chicago,
would engage himself in a life which was definitely doomed
to destruction.
Q. Well, that is the crime itself.
A. Yes, that is the best example of defective judgment
that I can find in him.
Q. Loeb is a very restless fellow, isn't he?
A. Sometimes, yes, sir.
Q. But not all the time?
A. No, sir. He would even go to sleep in the examining
room while I was talking to the other patient.
Q. Well, a man who can go to sleep while a doctor is
examining his companion's mental condition is not an ex-
tremely restless person, is he?
A. Not at the time he is asleep, of course not. I think
Loeb showed poor judgment in selecting the courses he took
at college. He said he drifted through college, following the
hne of least resistance. That is poor judgment. Any man
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