Pathology of Lying [75]
that the accuser is under temporary physical stress--it is to be noted that our material clearly shows that there is always more in the background.
The many cases observed by us of false accusations made, rarely, by the feebleminded and, more often, by those suffering from a psychosis, need not be mentioned here--they are obvious in their abnormality and have little bearing upon our immediate problem.
For the sake of illustration of the fact of pathological accusation Case 17 is given in this chapter, but in its mental aspects it belongs more properly under the head of border-line cases. In our final deductions this has not been counted as a mentally normal case.
CASE 13
Summary: An exceedingly important case from a legal standpoint. A girl of 16 years persistently, but falsely accused her own mother and her step-father of the murder of the youngest child of the family. Some apparent physical corroboration was found. The woman and her spouse were held from the inquest to the grand jury and later were indicted. They were in jail for four months until the case was finally tried, when they were discharged.
We studied Libby S. as a delinquent some eight months after her mother and step-father had been acquitted of murder. These unfortunate people had been held and tried almost entirely upon the testimony given by this girl. It goes without saying that they were very poor and not ordinarily self-assertive, and so did not obtain competent legal advice. We were naturally interested in this remarkable affair and were glad to be able to get at the truth of the matter and bring about forgiveness and reconciliation within the family circle.
Libby was now under arrest for stealing and for prostitution. Her statement to us was that she had been immoral and wanted to be sent away to an institution where she would be kept out of trouble. She had been working in a factory. Her mother and step-father were temperate and the latter was always good to her and to her brother. She told about being extremely nervous when she got to thinking about different things, and maintained that she worried so much at times that she did not know what she was doing. Later we learned from her of her little sister's death, of the fact that the child was not really her sister, and that her mother had not been married to her present husband until the time of the trial, although for long they had been living together. She added that she had been a witness five times in court against her mother and step-father. A younger brother had also testified against them to some minor extent. ``We had to tell what we saw--we told enough lies as it was.''
Following the latter remark as a clew we went as thoroughly as we could into the details of the whole case. No report of the court proceedings being available we obtained what we could from the newspaper accounts. Obviously, however, much of these was impressionistic and unreliable. The coroner's physician testified to many bruises being on the body, and to the bottom of the feet being blistered. The report of what the police said at the inquest made anything but conclusive testimony. Even from that, the murder seemed highly improbable. It was shown that a physician was called to the child before she died, but did not respond. Libby testified at the inquest and later against her mother, stating that the child had been beaten and tortured in various ways. We also learned from other than newspaper sources that when Libby was waiting to testify, with her mother suffering imprisonment in the same building, the girl was nonchalantly singing ragtime songs in the court-house corridors.
The facts about the alleged murder of the five year old child as we could finally summarize them from various accounts, and after hearing the confession of Libby, are as follows. This child was an epileptic and had frequent attacks of falling, when she injured herself, once having fallen in this way against a hot stove. The little child engaged in extremely bad sex habits. Indeed, Libby herself
The many cases observed by us of false accusations made, rarely, by the feebleminded and, more often, by those suffering from a psychosis, need not be mentioned here--they are obvious in their abnormality and have little bearing upon our immediate problem.
For the sake of illustration of the fact of pathological accusation Case 17 is given in this chapter, but in its mental aspects it belongs more properly under the head of border-line cases. In our final deductions this has not been counted as a mentally normal case.
CASE 13
Summary: An exceedingly important case from a legal standpoint. A girl of 16 years persistently, but falsely accused her own mother and her step-father of the murder of the youngest child of the family. Some apparent physical corroboration was found. The woman and her spouse were held from the inquest to the grand jury and later were indicted. They were in jail for four months until the case was finally tried, when they were discharged.
We studied Libby S. as a delinquent some eight months after her mother and step-father had been acquitted of murder. These unfortunate people had been held and tried almost entirely upon the testimony given by this girl. It goes without saying that they were very poor and not ordinarily self-assertive, and so did not obtain competent legal advice. We were naturally interested in this remarkable affair and were glad to be able to get at the truth of the matter and bring about forgiveness and reconciliation within the family circle.
Libby was now under arrest for stealing and for prostitution. Her statement to us was that she had been immoral and wanted to be sent away to an institution where she would be kept out of trouble. She had been working in a factory. Her mother and step-father were temperate and the latter was always good to her and to her brother. She told about being extremely nervous when she got to thinking about different things, and maintained that she worried so much at times that she did not know what she was doing. Later we learned from her of her little sister's death, of the fact that the child was not really her sister, and that her mother had not been married to her present husband until the time of the trial, although for long they had been living together. She added that she had been a witness five times in court against her mother and step-father. A younger brother had also testified against them to some minor extent. ``We had to tell what we saw--we told enough lies as it was.''
Following the latter remark as a clew we went as thoroughly as we could into the details of the whole case. No report of the court proceedings being available we obtained what we could from the newspaper accounts. Obviously, however, much of these was impressionistic and unreliable. The coroner's physician testified to many bruises being on the body, and to the bottom of the feet being blistered. The report of what the police said at the inquest made anything but conclusive testimony. Even from that, the murder seemed highly improbable. It was shown that a physician was called to the child before she died, but did not respond. Libby testified at the inquest and later against her mother, stating that the child had been beaten and tortured in various ways. We also learned from other than newspaper sources that when Libby was waiting to testify, with her mother suffering imprisonment in the same building, the girl was nonchalantly singing ragtime songs in the court-house corridors.
The facts about the alleged murder of the five year old child as we could finally summarize them from various accounts, and after hearing the confession of Libby, are as follows. This child was an epileptic and had frequent attacks of falling, when she injured herself, once having fallen in this way against a hot stove. The little child engaged in extremely bad sex habits. Indeed, Libby herself