Bigelow, George; Bemis, George - Report of the Trial of Abner Rogers, Jr. Indicted for the Murder of Charles Lincoln, Jr. , Late Warden of the Massachusetts State Prison; Before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts; Holden at Boston, on Tuesday, January 30, 1844

Boston, Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1844. First Edition. First edition; 8 3/4 x 5 1/2; pp. [7], 6-286, [6]; rebound in brown cloth over boards, with red morocco title with gilt lettering to spine; tiny bookshop label to ffep; a few minor spots of foxing; in very good condition. A major legal case in 19th-century United States, it would go down in history as seeing the first American use of the M’Naghten insanity test for defense and for being the first US acquittal for reasons of insanity. Under M’Naghten, all defendants were presumed to be sane, until proven that during committing their criminal act - they did not know what they were doing, or they did not know it was wrong. In this case, in June of 1843, twice-convicted criminal Abner Rogers - serving his sentence at the Massachusetts State Prison in Charlestown - attacked Charles Lincoln, Warden of the prison, and stabbed him to death in the neck. At Rogers' trial for the murder, his lawyers George Bigelow and George Bemis' defense strategy would ultimately lead to the defendant's acquital on the grounds of insanity and his removal from the prison and placement in the Lunatic Asylum in Worcester. A year later, in 1884, Rogers would commit suicide by jumping out of a window at the asylum. Very good .

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