Article October 5, 1899 Issue

Comments on Dr. Nickerson's Views

New York Herald

If any physician in this county should attempt to follow Dr. Nickerson's ideas and it should come to the knowledge of the District Attorney's office, the Grand Jury would be asked to indict him for murder. James W. Osborne, who, in the absence of District Attorney Gardiner, is Acting District Attorney, made this declaration yesterday.

"Any physician who makes such a confession is, if his confession be true, a murderer," said Mr. Osborne. "No one has the right to take another's life, and if such a confession came to my attention I should at once present the person making it to the Grand Jury for indictment for murder in the first degree. The only defence which could be interposed is lunacy, and I believe that any doctor who would make such a confession is a lunatic.

"Furthermore, any one who confesses that he has advised a person as to the easiest way to commit suicide is liable to indictment. If the person so advised succeeds in committing suicide, the physician who advised him would in this state be guilty of murder. If he attempted suicide and failed, the physician would be guilty of being accessory before the act to an assault; for technically a person who attempts suicide commits an assault on himself.

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