Law: Getting Off?

Depression as a defense

No one disputed that former San Francisco Supervisor Dan White took a snub-nosed revolver along when he went to call on Mayor George Moscone last November. Or that White slipped into city hall through a window to avoid the metal detector at the main entrance. Or that he pumped nine bullets into Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, killing them both. The only question for the jury at White's trial for murder was whether the defendant really knew what he was doing. At week's end, the jury was still out.

Prosecutor Thomas Norman had argued that White was guilty...