The weekly Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1913-19??, May 12, 1914, Page 9, Image 9

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LEO M. FRANK LOSES IN FIGHT FOR NEW TRIAL Without hearing arguments from Solicitor Dorsey, Judge Ben Hill Wednesday afternoon overruled the extraordinary motion for a new trial for Leo M. Frank at the conclusion of the address of Attorney Reuben R. Arnold. . Judge Hill said he probably would grant a bill of excep tions by which the case may be taken to the Supreme Court and added that, in the event that an appeal is taken, he would write an opinion on the case as it had been presented before him. His order denying the new trial was as follows: COUNTY OF FULTON. The State of Georgia vs. Leo M. Frank. After hearing the evidence and arguments on the application of Leo M. Frank on his extraordinary motion for a new trial, the same is hereby overruled and denied. BENJAMIN H. HILL, Judge of the Superior Court. Defense Will Appeal. An appeal to the Supreme Court will be taken at once by the lawyers for Frank. A con ference with Judge Hill and the lawyers will be held Thursday morning to determine the de tails of the judge’s certification and the granting of the bill of exceptions. The hearing on the motion to set aside the verdict on the ground that Frank was deprived of his constitu tional rights in not being in the courtroom when the verdict was reti dered will be held Saturday morning in the event that the Sollcitor can be prepared in that length of time. He said Wednesday that he had given this motion no constderation and was not sure that he could be ready by Saturday, Harry A. Alexander, representing Tye, Peeples & Jordan, sought to get Judge Hill to withhold his ruiing on the extraordinary motion until they could appear before him anil show cause why it should be with held until after the motion to set aside the verdict had been submit ted and devided. . Judge's Decision Unexpected. Judge Hill refused to do this, say ing that the two motions had no con nection and that there was no reason to withhold his judgment. The action of Judge Hill came as a complete surprise to many who had anticipated that Sclicitor Dorsey would present argnments for the State before the decision was ren dered. The forenoon WwWas occupied with the arguments by Attornevs Rosser and Arnold. Attorney Arnold had parely finished his argument when the Gecision of the judge was made. A comparatively speedy decision on the appeal may be expected from the Supreme Court. An extraordi nary motion has precedence over the other cases in the higher court and will be reviewed at once on its filing. Early Resentence Unlikely. Judge Hill, in satting for next Sat urday the hearing on the motion to get aside the verdict on the consti tutfonal grounds, displayed a desire to have the entire case settled as quickly as compatible with justice. This will mean that while the ap peal on the extraordinary motion is finding its way to the Supreme Court, the lower court will be settling the motion to set aside. 1t is likely that Frank will not be resentenced for some time, as the motion to set aside, in the event that {he appeal on the extraordinary mo tion fails, will have a longer course pefore it than any of the previous motions made by the lawyers for I‘rank. b The appeal failing, the motion to set aside is destined to pass through the court of Judge Hin and, if de nied there, to pass on to the Supreme Court of Georgia whence, if again de nied, it will be taken on to the Su preme Court of the United States. While it is general practice to hurry motions of the sort now In the courts in the Frank case, It is the general opinion that their con sideration will require several moths before both are settled. Atttack by the Defense. Striking at the weaker links in the State’s chain of circumstantial evi dence against Frank. Luther Z. Ros ser and Reuben R. Arnold made im pressive arguments before Judge Hili ir. behalf of the extraordinary mo tion for a new trial Attorney Rosser, thirough the newly discovered evidence bearing on Dr. H. F. Harris’ comparison of the hair of Mary Phagan and the strands found on the jathe on the second floor of the pencil factory, argued at length against the State’'s contention that the hair found was Mary Phagan's. He also dwelt considerably on the supposed blood spots near the dress ing rom on the second floor, Judge Hill early in Arnold's ad dress, indicated his apparent attitude toward the affidavits of State's wit nesges who had recanted by asking the lawyer if it were not true that the Supreme Court had held that when a motion for a new trial had been filed, Laving as grounds the false swear fng of witneszes, these grounds need not be considered unless the witnesses allegd to hav sworn falgely have been indicted and progecuted. Arnold repiied that he did not know that the law strictly held to this point, and Solicitor Dorgey arose to say he could offer citations bearing out the Judge on the matter. Judge Hiit (ited the State vs. Malone, the Forty ninth Georgia, and Dorsey cited the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Georgia, 417, and the Ome Hundred and Seventeenth Georgia, 254 Attorney Arnold also laid great stress on the hair evidence and the THE GEORGIAN’'’S NEWS BRIEFS. supposed blood spot evidence, and quoted Dr, Harris and Dr, Ciaude A. Smith, respectively, to show that these features of the State's case— the only physical circumstances, aside from the notes, to connect Frank with the crime—not only were with out value to the State, but were, in fact, strong arguments against the probability of Frank's guilt. Arnold caused a surprise by an nouncing that he took little stock in the belief of Detective W. J. Burns that Conley is a pervert. In the opin ion of Arnold, there has been no per versgion in the case, either on the part of Conley or Frank, “Mr. Burns i® sincere in his opinion that Conley is a pervert,” said Ar nold, “but he has misread the negro nature of Conley. He judged that Conley was abnormal largely from the contents of those filthy notes Con ley wrote to Annie Maude Carter. But to my mind the letters indicate nothing except that the negro is a dirty, lustful beast, “As to Frank, although he was con victed of murder on the charge that he was a pervert, Solicitor Dorsey has not brought one witness here nor shown one scratch of a pen to show that Frank was a pervert. The young woman he brought up here yeaterda%(r did not attemp* to say that Fran was a degenerate or that she believed he was abnormal. All this talk of perversion is sickening rot. Cites Murder Notes. “I sin limiting myself to the dis cussion of the three physical facts of the case,” Attorney Arnold said, in prefacing his argument, “the notes the hair and the alleged blood spots.” The lawyer drew the court’'s atten tion to marked similarities in the “murder notes” found by Mary Pha gan's body and the notes he wrote to Annie Maude Carter, and in the phraseolegy of Conley's testimony on the stand. This was to offset the State's contention that the murder notes were dictated by 2 white man— ‘ Frank. . | Dorsey argued at the {rial the pres ence of the words “did” and ‘“negro’ in the notes showed that they were dictated by a more educated man than Conley. Arnold pointed out in the letters to the Carter woman the repetition of the words with this spelling. Attorney Arnold called to the at tention of the court the fact that there was a wound on the skull of Mary Phagan which had been struck in the spot where the blood vessels are the thickest and where she must have bled freely. No Blood There, He Says. “In spite of this,” he said, “there was not a drop of blzod where Con ley said he found the body, and not a drop of blood from there to the eleva tor, where he said he carried the body at the direction of Frank. Everything points to the conclusion that the murder was not committed there, but in the basement. “The alleged blood spots near the dregsing room, where Conley said he dropped the body, were proved by a State's witness, Dr. Claude A, Smith, not to have been blood spots at all. A dark smear was found by Barrett and the detectives, and they imme diately thought that it was blood. How nearly correct they were was shown by Smith’s testimony. “Six chips were taken from the fioor. All of them were colored by this dark smear, yet on five of them Dr. Smith found not a trace of blood. Had the dark gpot been blood there would have been thousands of cor puscles. He found not a one. On the sixth chip he found three or four cor puscles of blood. How significant this was wiil be seen when it is re membered that in one drop of human blood there are 80,000 corpuscles. Does any sane person believe that Mary Phagan could have bled there and ouly foul corpuscles of blood be found and that blood which the expert tes tified might haye come from a fly crushed under foot morths before or from a mouse?” Dr. Harris Criticised. The lawyer criticised the aciion of Dr. Harris in failing to reveal that he had told the Solicitor that the hair found on the lathe on the second floor of the pencil factory was not the hair of Mary Pnhagan. With the hair out of consideration as an indication that the murder was committed on the second floor; with the "blood spois” shown not to be blood spots by the State's own wit ness, and the murder notes of Con ley fhown to be in his typical spell ing and phraseology, refuting the ar gument that they were dictated, Ar nld declared that \he whole founda tion of the State’s case had been swplt away. Arnold declared that Frank's con viction had come largely on the tes timony of four criminals—Cenley, Dalton, McKnight, Epps and Duffey. “1 would like to have a counter grand jury and a counter solicitor to indict some of the perjurers of the other side,” said Arno!d. ‘'Then we could have an indicting match, “l have nothing to say against or for this man Ragsdale. His story is so fishy that 1 believe it must be a lie, but I want to ask if there could be any criticitsm of counsel for tak ing his statement. If the statements of these criminals on the other side are taken, is there any reason why we should not have confidence in the statement of a minister of the gos pel? “If we can not take the word of a minister of the gospel, whose may we take? He came to us as a minister, He came to us as a minister in ac tive charge of a church., He came vouched for by some of the most prominent ministers in town.” Rosser’'s Argument. Attorney Rosser at the outset of his address emphasized the supreme pow er of the State in holding witnesses to the testimony they gave on the stand, whether it wae true or not. He said it had been iltustrated repeated ly in the Frank case. “The power of the State itself’is énough to change a witness back, once he has recanted from the testi mony he gave at the trial,” said Mr. Rosser. “No one understands this better than 1 do. The power of the individual as compared with that ofa great State is infinitesimal in a case of thkis sort. No matter what the power of an individual, he is not equipped like a State. He has no jail and no arresting power. He has not the ability to overawe and intimidate as has the massive and puissant ma chinery of the State in its equipment to prosecute, “Th>» State—the prosecution —needs no more. The individual econtrols no grand juries and is without the power to jail and incarcerate. An individ ual may employ the best in the land, but he does not compare in power with the humblest detective on the city force. The Solicitor does not have to do wrong. 1 do not charge or intimate that he has done wrong. [t is sufficient that he has entre to the Grand Jury.” . Congress Committee Would Unseat Dyer WASHINGTON, May 7..—A report geclaring that Representative Dyer, of Mtssouri, a Republican, is not en titled to a seat in the present Con gress was filed in the House to-day by the House Elections Committee, The contestant for the seat was Dyer’s Democratic opponent, M. J. Gill, who alleged that 442 Democratic ballots had been scratched by the election judges without the consent or knowledge of the voters. The committee reports that on the face of the revised returns accepied by the committec the Democratic contestants had a plurality of 67 voies, Artist Disappears After Sickles Burial NEW YORK, May 9.—After march ing in the funeral procession of Gen cral Sickles, James Ben Ali Haggun, the artist, who had come to New York from a sanitarium, suddenly disappeared. A city-wide search for him has been started: . * Haggin was watched closely by an attendant throughout the whole line of march, but he managed to elude his guard in some way. He is a grandson of James B. Haggin. . . . U. 8. Missionary in Paris Auto Wreck PARIS, May 6.—Mrs. B, S. Flint, an American missionary, lls under treatment to-day In a hospital at Rambouillet for injuries recelved la.e vesterday in an automobile accident. A wheel came off her automobile while passing through Rambouillet, which is a suburb of Paris, and she gashes on the face and shoulders, Man, 65, Wants 4th . Wedding Annulled PATCHOGUE, N. Y., May 7.—Wed for the fourth time a week ago, Nor ton E. Jones, 65, wants his marriage te Miss Ellen Lee, 35, annulled. For Aviation Cr%ft BERLIN, May 7.—The Tageszeitung says that the Kaiser has ordered the in gertion in the liturgy of the Lutheran Church a special prayer for military and naval aireraft. PUBLISHER MAYOR OF ST. PAUL. ST. PAUL, MINN, May 6.—Re turng to-day showed that Winn Pow ers, a publisher, was elected Mayor, of this city by a small majority over Louis Nagh, member of the Board of County Commisgioners, at Bt, Paul's first non-partisan election held yes terday. S The Georgian has been furnished with copies* of some rather peppery correspondence between Thomas I, Watson and William J. IHHarris, with respect to the latter's candidacy for the Governorship. It appears that Mr. Watson re ceived a circular letter from Mr. Harris' office in Washington, asking him (Watson) what he thought of the idea of Mr. Harris becoming a candidate far Governor. To this Mr. Watson replied that he thought it “a good idea for Mr. Harris to run,” as the people there by would be furnished an opportu nity to “give him h——l" and also denouncing Harris as a “humbug,” working in the interest of his "boss®™ Senator Hoke Smith. Harris Scores Watson. In reply to this Mr., Harris states to Mr. Watson that the letter was sent to him without Mr. Harris' knowledge or consent, that he (Har ris) does not wish Mr. Watson's sup port for any office, and wouldn't have it at any price. The Director of the Census then names a. score or more of Georgians denounced from time to time by Mr, Watson, and says: “You have charged Governor Jo seph M. Brown with being a mur derer; and Senator Hoke Smith and Representative Thomas W. Hard wick with being assassins, You have denounced National Committeeman Clark Howell, and nearly every mem ber of Congress from Georgia in re cent years, both living and dead, in cluding such good and able men as A B Clay. A, O. Bacon, Henry Q. Turner, Willlam G. Brantley, James M. Griggs, Charles F. Crisp, Gordon Lee, Thomas M, Bell, Willlam C. Adamson, John W. Maddox, Charles L. Bartlett, William M. Howard and many others.” “Unworthy of Attention.” Mr. Harris then enters at length into a discussion of his connection with the Macon convention, and says that although he was urged by some people after he was named chairman of the committee to make Mr. Wat son a member of the same, he de clined to do so as he did not con sider Watson a Democrat or in any way worthy of attention. In conclusion Mr. Harris says to Mr. Watson: “You live on hate and devote your time and talents to endeavoring to destroy the characters of some of our best men, instead of helping the masses, and for this reason your fol lowing of loyal men long ago deserted you." ; . . Spirit Negro Away pT Avoid Lynchi 0 AVOI ynciaing GREENSBORO, N, C, May 6.~ Sld Finger, a negro on trial at Salis bury, charged with robbing and burning a store at Barber Junction February 24 and with killing and cre mating Preston Lyerly, the clerk, srent last night in the county jail here, Officers sald they feared the prig oner might be lynched if he remaineld at Salisbury overnight, He was taken back to Salisbury this morning un der guard. Statement of Ownership, Manage ment, Circulation, ete., of THE GEORGIAN'S Published every Tuesday at Atlanta, Ga, Required by the Act of August 24, 19114, Iditor, John Temple Graves, Atlanta, Ga. Business Manager, Hugh I, Murray, Atlanta, Ga, Managing Editor, Keats Speed, At lanta, Ga. Publisher, The Georglan Company. Owners, The Georgian Company, At lanta, Ga., W. R, Hearst, 127 Riv erside drive, New York City. Known bondholders, mortgagees and other security holders, holding 1 {wr cent or more of total amount of ponds, mortgages or other securl ties—W. R. Hearst, 137 Riverside drive, New York City; Trust Compa ny of Georgia, Trustee, Atlanta, Ga, Average number of coples of each fssue of this publication sold or dis tributed, through the malls or other wise, to pald subscribers during the #ix months preceding the date of this statement (from October 1, 1613, to Aprit 1, 1914), 1s as follows: Georgian Weekly News Briefs, 12,280, . oot For THE GEORGIAN COMPANY, By HUGH E. MURRAY, Business Manager. Sworn to and subscribed before me this 10th day of April, 1914, (Seal) H. . CROSTHWAIT, ) Notary Public. My commission expires March, 1915, 9