The Czynski case, at Munich, seems to be the only authentic one in which a convic tion of hypnotism was really secured. The prisoner was charged with having had re course to hypnotic suggestions in order to win the affections of a woman of high social position and to obtain her consent to live with him in illicit intercourse, and, subse quently, after he had subjected her to his will, to inveigle her into a false marriage performed by a friend of the prisoner who personated a priest. The accused had given public exhibitions of his hypnotic powers in Dresden and claimed to be able to treat maladies by touching with his hands the parts of the body affected while the patient i was in a hypnotized state. His arrest and trial in 1894 created a profound sensation throughout Europe. He was convicted and sentenced to three years' imprisonment. For a full report of tile trial, see 14 Med. Leg. J. 150.
The Kansas case of State v. Gray was reported and extensively commented upon by the newspaper press and some Influential legal journals (51 Alb. L. J. 87 and 3 Am. Lawy. 3) as having turned upon the ground of hypnotic influence, but this was clearly a misrepresentation, the actual decision being that one who aids, abets, counsels, or assists in the commission of a crime is equally guilty as one who actually commits the same; 55 Kan. 135, 39 Pac. 1050. One of the jour nals cited supra in a subsequent issue cor rected its error as to the facts of that case and published a letter from the trial judges which states that, "The question of hypno tism was never raised, never insisted upon, either in the evidence, the arguments, or the instructions," and "the only reference, either direct or remote, during the whole trial that was made to the question of hypnotism," was the remark of counsel for the defence to the jury that "we might almost say that Gray possessed a hypnotic power over McDonald." McDonald as principal and Gray as acces sory, being charged with murder, upon a severance, the latter was tried first and con victed and afterwards the former was ac quitted on the ground of self-defense; 3 Am. Lawy. 45; 13 Med. Leg. J. 51.
The case of Hayward, tried at Minne apolis for the murder of Katherine Ging, and afterwards hanged, and the case at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, in which a young man named Pickens was charged with hypno lining two young girls, have both been shown to have no connection with hypnotism; 18 Crim: L. Mag. 100. The facts of both cases
may •be found in 13 Med. Leg. J. 241.
In a California case of a woman on trial for murder, in whose behalf it was alleged that she was hypnotized by her husband, it was held that evidence that she was told by her husband to commit the act does not tend to show that she was hypnotized, and does not render admissible evidence of the effect of hypnotism on persons subject to its influence; People v. Worthington, 105 Cal. 166, 38 Pac. 689.
Notwithstanding the drift of opinion in dicated above there are writers of author ity on medico-legal subjects who think dif ferently. In discussing the possibility of rape committed upon a person in the hyp notic state, a late work, after alluding to the lack of attention given to hypnotism in Eng land and America, continues : "Like other theories and investigations received at first with ridicule, hypnotism has been placed on a sure scientific basis, thanks to the labor of Charcot and his successors. It has found a place in French, Austrian, and Hungarian law, and must, sooner or later, creel3 into the Anglo-Saxon. The great French experts in legal medicine, so far as we know, with out an exception (Tardieu, Devergie, Brouar del, Vibert, Tourdes, Tourette) recognize the possibility that the will may be entirely abolished under hypnotic influence." It is further asserted that the crime mentioned is not frequent, but that it undoubtedly ex ists in a small number of authentic cases. See 2 Witth. & Beck. Med. Jur. 452, where these cases are narrated, and the authorities given. It will be found that they are all open to the criticism and doubt which affect the question of rape on a sleeping woman, and which are inherent in the nature of the crime. While finding no recently recorded case of the violation of a woman during hyp notic sleep, Taylor (2 Med. Leg. Jurispr. 115) is of opinion that "there can be no rea sonable doubt about the possibility of such an occurrence." In addition to the authorities herein cited see also 2 Ham. Leg. Med. 212 ; Tourette, Hypnotisme au Point de Vue Modico-Legal; Etude MO. Leg. sur les Attentats au Odours; N. Y. Med. J., Jan. 26, 1895; Gould, Illustr. Dict. Med. sub. v.; Contemp. Rev. Oct. 1890, "Hypnotism and Crime" ; Moll, Hypnotism; Dessoir, Bibtiographie des modernen Hypno tisnvus; 11 Y. L. J. 173; Taylor, Med. Leg. Jurispr. (with bibliography in vol. 2).