The George Kelley Collection
Legal Stories


THE CARLYLE HARRIS CASE
Charles Boswell, Lewis Thompson
Collier, 1948.
Bison Catalog Record

Guilty or innocent? That is the question posed by this Victorian-era true crime tale, in which a young medical student named Carlyle Harris, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, finds himself on trial for his life. Harris stands accused of murdering his secret wife, Helen Potts, by administering a fatal dose of morphine to the attractive, intelligent nineteen-year old, a student at the Comstock Select Boarding School for Young Ladies. This compelling courtroom drama made headline news for months during 1891 and 1892, capturing the interest and imagination of the scandal- loving press and public. The authors bring the case to life in vivid detail, by including excerpts of verbatim testimony taken from the actual court transcripts, and describing all the legal maneuverings, from jury selection to the final verdict and its aftermath.