Trial Begins
Mrs. McDonald was put on trial January 20. The jury was completed January 25 and the taking of testimony began at once. The case of the State was made as complete as possible and the defense began an exhaustive array of testimony. The defense, however, came to a surprisingly sudden end. It had been feared that Mrs. McDonald might not live through the trial and there was every desire to have a verdict before she might give way to heart trouble.
The case was heard before Judge Theodore Brentano, and it lasted twenty-one days.
Dora McDonald was represented by Colonel James Hamilton Lewis, Chief Assistant Patrick H. O’Donnell, Attorneys Benjamin M. Shaffner, Frank R. Cain, Gabriel Norden, Clarence Shaffner and Forest G. Smith.
The State was represented by Assistant State’s Attorneys William A. Rittenhouse and Edward S. Day.