Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 August 1908 — HARRY THAW'S MOVE [ARTICLE]

HARRY THAW'S MOVE

New York Lawyers Think It Means That He Will Soon Be a Free Man. SHOWS HIM TO BE VERY SAME Says a Noted Practitioner in the Criminal Tribunals Once Out of New York He Can Stay Out and Also Be Relieved of All Restraint,Two Legal Experts Declare. New York, Aug. 14. —That Harry Thaw will be free within a mcmth i* the opinion of prominent New York lawyers. Eugene Phllbin, ex-district attorney, said: “There is no doubt that once Thaw steps foot outside of New York state he will be a free man, or if not actually free can be made so by a writ of habeas corpus. Harry Thaw was not convicted of any crime. He was acquitted on the ground of Insanity. Judge Dowling, believing it to be for the good of the state, committed Thaw to Mattea wan. This commitment is legal only in New York. Long as He New York. “If the federal authorities demand Thaw’s presence at the bankruptcy proceedings in Pittsburg those who have Thaw in custody have no other course than to produce him. The service of a subpoena on either Thaw or the New York authorities would require his keepers to turn him over to a United States marshal, who would take him to Pittsburg. Once across the river and in New Jersey he would be legally free, and as long as he is kept oui of the state of New York he would have no fear of imprisonment.” Committal is Not Conclusive, t John F. Mclntyre, a leading lawyer of the criminal bar, said: “Because Thaw was committed to an insane asylum does not necessarily prove that in any other state he would not be legally sane until proved otherwise, and until his sanity was passed dpou by a competent commission he would have every right under the law of a sane and Innocent man. Thinks it a Very Sane Move. “The legality of the statute under which Thaw was sent to an insane asylum has never been tested in this state. I believe that Thaw’s asking for bankruptcy proceedings shows good, sound reasoning, and is an indication of perfect balance of mind. A commitment in Hits state has no ex-tra-territorial force, and once outside of the state Thaw would be a free man. Any judge outside of New York must discharge him on the grounds that be is illegally restrained.”