Page:The Art of Cross-Examination.djvu/251



was the cross-examination of a Birmingham attorney, named Jeremiah Smith, by Sir Alexander Cockburn, then Attorney-General and afterward Chief Justice of England, in the celebrated trial of William Palmer for taking the life of John Parsons Cook by poison, that finally turned the tide, in this closely contested case, against the prisoner, and resulted in his conviction and execution. An observer of such long experience as Mr. Justice Stephens said of this cross-examination that "it was something to be heard and seen, but incapable of being described."

William Palmer at the time of his trial was thirty-one years old. He was a physician by profession, but had for several years prior to his trial given up the active practice of medicine and had devoted all his time to the turf. His victim, John Parsons Cook, was also a young man of decent family, originally intended for the profession of the law, but after inheriting some £15,000, also betook himself to the turf. He kept race homes and betted considerably, and in the course of his operations