Mr. George Grodman was called and repeated his evidence at the inquest.
Cross-examined, he testified to the warm friendship between Mr. Constant
and the prisoner. He knew very little about Miss Dymond, having scarcely
seen her. Prisoner had never spoken to him much about her. He should not
think she was much in prisoner's thoughts. Naturally the prisoner had
been depressed by the death of his friend. Besides, he was overworked.
Witness thought highly of Mortlake's character. It was incredible that
Constant had had improper relations of any kind with his friend's
promised wife. Grodman's evidence made a very favorable impression on
the jury; the prisoner looked his gratitude; and the prosecution felt
sorry it had been necessary to call this witness.
Inspector Howlett and Sergeant Runnymede had also to repeat their
evidence. Dr. Robinson, police-surgeon, likewise retendered his evidence
as to the nature of the wound, and the approximate hour of death. But
this time he was much more severely examined. He would not bind himself
down to state the time within an hour or two. He thought life had been
extinct two or three hours when he arrived, so that the deed had been
committed between seven and eight. Under gentle pressure from the
prosecuting counsel, he admitted that it might possibly have been
between six and seven. Cross-examined, he reiterated his impression in
favor of the later hour.
Supplementary evidence from medical experts proved as dubious and
uncertain as if the court had confined itself to the original witness.
It seemed to be generally agreed that the data for determining the time
of death of anybody were too complex and variable to admit of very
precise inference; _rigor mortis_ and other symptoms setting in within
very wide limits and differing largely in different persons. All agreed
that death from such a cut must have been practically instantaneous, and
the theory of suicide was rejected by all. As a whole the medical
evidence tended to fix the time of death, with a high degree of
probability, between the hours of six and half-past eight. The efforts
of the Prosecution were bent upon throwing back the time of death to as
early as possible after about half-past five. The Defense spent all its
strength upon pinning the experts to the conclusion that death could not
have been earlier than seven. Evidently the Prosecution was going to
fight hard for the hypothesis that Mortlake had committed the crime in
the interval between the first and second trains for Liverpool; while
the Defense was concentrating itself on an alibi, showing that the
prisoner had traveled by the second train which left Euston Station at a
quarter-past seven, so that there could have been no possible time for
the passage between Bow and Euston. It was an exciting struggle. As yet
the contending forces seemed equally matched. The evidence had gone as
much for as against the prisoner. But everybody knew that worse lay
behind.
"Call Edward Wimp."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account