Lastania Abarta's Hysteria Defense Acquittal
In 1881 in Los Angeles, 18-year-old Lastania Abarta shot her former lover Francisco "Chico" Forster in the eye, killing him after he broke off their engagement and tried to flee from a carriage rather than marry her. Forster had earlier lured her to a hotel, taken her virginity while promising marriage, and then avoided carrying out the wedding, leaving her humiliated and enraged.
At her trial, her lawyers argued that she suffered from "female hysteria," claiming her brain was "clogged with blood," and called Dr. Joseph Kurtz, who told the jury that "Any virtuous woman, when deprived of her virtue, would go mad, undoubtedly." The all-male jury reportedly applauded the testimony, deliberated for only twenty minutes, and found her not guilty, after which Abarta quietly left Los Angeles and disappeared from public view.