Trivia 3-8-17 You Can't Handle the truth

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I was a key figure in the Lincoln Administration. A few years prior to the Civil War, I was part of the prosecutor's team in a murder trial where the defense used the insanity plea for the defendant. After giving one of the closing arguments for the prosecution, the jury deliberated and returned with a 'not guilty by reason of insanity," although the defendant was ordered to be confined in a state mental institution. Later, when I found out from the state mental institution that the defendant was truly deranged, I regretted having prosecuted him so vigorously. Who am I?

credit: @Copperhead-mi
 
That was Old Abe himself, Abraham Lincoln

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From: Abraham Lincoln : a life / by Michael Burlingame, p. 341
https://books.google.de/books?id=oE...IAxoKHdfTCl0Q6AEIHjAB#v=onepage&q=341&f=false
 
John Carlisle

Edit - There was a John Carlile who served in the U. S. House of Representatives and later the U. S. Senate during most of Lincoln's years in the White House, but that wouldn't be the same thing as being a member of the Lincoln Administration.

I can't find any source stating that either John Carlile or anyone named John Carlisle participated in a lawsuit such as the one described in the question.

Hoosier
 
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The only prosecutor I can find who fits most of this profile is Francis Scott Key who prosecuted the Richard Lawrence attempt murder trial in 1835 which had the same outcome as the case in the question but of course Key was dead twenty years before the Lincoln administration. Maybe he had a partner, if he did I can't find him and there are so many lawyers in the Lincoln cabinet alone that I am reduced to guessing, could of been Chase or, Blair, Bates, Welles, Stanton, Seward et al.
I'll guess....Seward.
 
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Geez, another question about somebody from the Lincoln administration involved in a lawsuit where there was an insanity defense. :eek:

I'm not even going to try answering this one.

To tell the truth, I hope that we won't have any more questions involving insanity defenses for a while.
 
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well this is a long shot but iam going for it 7 hours later { Wikipedia}


John Van Buren also prosecuted the case of William Freeman, who murdered four members of the Van Nest family of Cayuga County, New York on March 12, 1846.[3] The defense, led by William H. Seward, tried to prove that Freeman was insane

Edit - Sorry to have to mark the answer wrong after you tried so hard, but the question asked about a member of the prosecution who was also a member of the Lincoln Administration. Van Buren was never a member of the Lincoln Administration and Seward was not a member of the prosecution.

Hoosier
 
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Tricky! Today's question evidently does not refer to the Daniel Sickles trial and Edwin Stanton's closing argument for the defense. First, Dirty Dan was not confined but retained his seat in Congress and was later made a major general and corps commander. Second, the person we're looking for was part of the prosecution, not the defense. Note that the verdict in Dirty Dan's case was the first use of "temporary" insanity. The "not guilty by reason of insanity" defense had been used before; especially after the M'Naughton case, a landmark case in Britain in the 1840s.

This question would also not refer to the Wyatt and Freeman cases in 1846, both of which used the insanity defense, in which William Seward was part of the defense.

It's amazing how many sources inaccurately cite the Sickles trial as the first use of the insanity defense in the US. The histories of the insanity defense I've found online jump from M'Naughton to the 20th century.

No answer yet! I've been searching for almost 5 hours! I swear I've read about this case, or a similar one, at some time in the past, or I'd have already given up! Will keep looking and answer (if I can) tomorrow. Right now I'm gonna take a break and look at the giraffe cam!
 
Abraham Lincoln was the prosecutor in a controversial murder case. Isaac Wyant attacked his neighbor Ason Rusk with a knife. In self-defense, Rusk shot Wyant in the arm, which had to be amputated. Later in revenge, Wyant shot Rusk to death in cold blood in 1855. Lincoln helped prosecute the case. The defense attorney claimed the novel insanity plea and won despite Lincoln's best efforts. Later, when informed by the authorities of the asylum that Wyant was truly deranged, Lincoln expressed regret for having prosecuted him so vigorously.
https://books.google.com/books?id=o...retted prosecuting him so vigourously&f=false
 
I finally found it, after far too much searching and finally spending over an hour reading a most entertaining account of Abraham Lincoln's days as a lawyer in Illinois because it seemed to fit the search parameters. I now know why the question's topic is familiar!
Source: https://www.knox.edu/documents/pdfs/LincolnStudies/Burlingame, Vol 1, Chap 9.pdf
Michael Burlingame – Abraham Lincoln: A Life – Vol. 1, Chapter 9, p. 994
I am Abraham Lincoln (certainly a key figure in the Lincoln administration!). From the above account:
"One of the more controversial murder cases was that of Isaac Wyant, who attacked his neighbor Ason Rusk with a knife. In self-defense, Rusk shot his assailant in the arm, which was subsequently amputated. Thirsting for revenge, Wyant in 1855 shot Rusk to death in cold blood. Lincoln helped prosecute the case. . . .Leonard Swett, who defended Wyant with the novel insanity plea, won despite Lincoln’s best efforts. Later, when informed by authorities at the state insane asylum that Wyant was truly deranged, Lincoln expressed regret for having prosecuted him so vigorously."

There's been too much about Dirty Dan Sickles lately, which is why I almost was led astray, especially because searching the insanity plea inevitably came up either with Dirty Dan's case, or jumped straight from M'naughton to John Hinkley. I finally decided to search on the last part of the question, and it worked!
 
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