The Loeb-Leopold case - The Clarence Darrow Collection

The Loeb-Leopold Case
of the fact that they are suffering from a diseased
mental condition, there should be any division or
lessening of the responsibility to answer for the
crime, the commission of which they have confessed.
We do assert that they are suffering and were suf-
fering at the time of the commission of the crime
charged from a diseased mental condition, but we do
not concern ourselves with the question of whether
such mental disease would constitute in the present
case a defense to the charge of murder. By the
pleas of guilty the defendants have assumed com-
plete responsibility for the crime of murder, and
this is in nowise a proceeding in which an effort is
being made to lessen that responsibility.
The subject matter of this proceeding is the as-
sessment of punishment for the crime committed and
such assessment is placed by our law within the
discretion of your Honor. Our statute provides that
the crime of murder shall be punishable by a
sentence of imprisonment in the penitentiary for a
period of not less than fourteen years, or for life, or
by death. Where there has been a plea of guilty
to such crime, as in this case, the statute pro-
vides, '' It shall be the duty of the court to hear
witnesses in aggravation and mitigation of the
offense."
The crime has been judicially confessed by the
pleas of guilty. Complete criminal responsibility
has been assumed by the defendants, and your
Honor is now in this proceeding hearing witnesses
91