Atlanta Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, August 17, 1913, Image 14

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'ATLANTA, (?A„ SUNDAY AUGUST in, 1913. ATLANTA, HA., SUNDAY, AUGUST 17, 1913. DORSEY SURE Solicitor Expects to Prove That Frank Had Life Which He Hid From Relatives and Friends . Jurors in the Frank case sketched in the courtroom. They are: 1. M. Johenning, 2. A. L. Wisbey, 3. F. V. L. Smith. 4. DedeV Townsend, 5. .)/. S. Woodward, rp • 1 ITT..] . . - \ttt i i x i i 6. A. H. Henslee, 7. W. M. Jeffries, 8. J. T. Ozburn, 9. Charles J. Basshardt, 10. W. S. Medcalf, 11. Fred E. Winburn, 12. J. F. Higdon. Inal Will Last 1 hrough Week, Declare _ ... Men Who Have Followed It. Continued from Pago 1 will be to fall In a crisis heavily Im portant to the State now. Liability Becomes Asset. Strange to nay—there ore ho many atrange things to say In this sur passingly strange Phagan story—one of the State’s apparent weaknesses is proving, in on* direction, to be one ..f its greatest elements of strength. The deefnse’s strenuous insistence that Conley’s remarkable story is im- fore 12:12, and that the clock in the factory, by which both Miss Stover and Conley testified as to the time, was running SLOW on the day of the crime. In other words, to meet its own the defense to train its every gun squarely upon it, for upon Conley’s story will the State be forced to stand or fall eventually. One of the curious things about the Fiank case is the way the question of hi? general character got into the pleadings. Theoretically, the defense alone may put the defendant’s character in issue—It being oontemplated by the law that no man shall be required, without his own consent, to answer more than one charge at one and the same time. And so far as legal strategy and astuteness is concerned, the State ouegenera lthe defense in the matter of getting Frank’s character before the jury. Had Conley, the State’s star witness, ben a man, even a negro, of respectability and ap proximately good previous rec ord, the necessity of attaching to Frank the charge of utter de pravity might not have seemed so pressing. But Frank’s pre vious good reoord seemed so well established, and his standing generally was thought to be so high, that it contrasted rather painfully with the record of the main witness of all others (Con ley) set up for the defndant’s undoing. The State doubtless knew that the unspeakable portion of Conley's evi dence was primarily Inadmissible, but It also knew th®t the defense would be taking rather a long chance to move its rejection when tendered. In that event, a sinister and cer tainly dangerous Impression would have been left upon the mind of the Jury. So the State deliberately drew out of Conley the unmentionable charge, which, in addition to the murder charge, undoubtedly made absolutely necessary the injection of Frank’s She said that Frank merely push* the door open, looked in. one one o■ casion smiled toward Miss Kitchd and then turned around and walk] away. She testified that the gi| never were any further in a coni tion of undress than lacking thl overskirt. Solicitor Dorsev inquired of her! regard to a reported remark of N.i Darley. general manager, that “if tl girls stay with us through this, trl will not lose by it.’’ She said she hi overheard Darley sav this. J Many Employees Called. fH The following pencil company m ployees were called as character lM nesses during the day: 1 Misses Mollie Blair, Ethel Stew« Sarah Barnes, Corinthia Hall, Hayes, Eula May Flowers, Hayes. Minnie Foster, Obie Dir W son, Gussie Wallace, Annie Osn* Bessie Thrailkill, Allie Denham, ■ becca Carson, Maude Wright, Iifl possible Is one reason why a lot of people are raying th*.t it is impossi ble. Conley may have manufactured it out of the whole cloth. If it is a lie, it i» a He too devilish ly cunning for a negro of Conley’s limited mentality to conjure or carry In his own mind in such remarkable detail, these people hold. If the ne gro were only less sure of everything, if he had wabbled dangerously under the terrific grilling administered by Luther Z. Rosser, if he had broken down or contradicted himself in any essential detail once he got to the witness stand, it now would be an easier thing for many people, fair- minded enough, too, to belleev the ne gro’s tale a mass of lies from start to finish! And the danger to the defense her* is that if Conley’s story sticks la ‘th*» minds of the Jury, even in fractionn! part, It probabp- lust as well stick in its entirety, so far as the hope of ac quittal upon this trl 1 is concerned. In other words, many people are ar guing to themselves that the negro, no matter how hard he tried and no mat ter how generously he was coached, still neevr hould have framed up a story like the one he told, unless there was somewhere In it some foundation In fact. And If there remains the impres sion of even a little foundation in fact, the defense is damaged beyond repair. And so It gets back to where !t started, and to where 1t wfll end—It Is Conley pitted against Frank! The State, with the burden of proof to carry, appears to have considerably more of an uphill fight on Its hands than the deefnse has. and yet the very nature of both fights—uncom promising, and neither askintr nor giving quarter—makes it something of a toss-up. really, as to which actu ally. and ns a mntter of fact, has the harder task to perform Undoubtedly, the defense expects profit much through its insistence that the time element ns set up in Con ley’s story, constitutes n most vital and compiling factor in determining the truth or falsity of »he entire story. Relv on State Witnesses. Tt is rather odd, too. that the de fense should be reiving upon the State’s witnesses in this* matter quit 0 a c much as unon its own. Tt will seek to use generously the State’s witnesses to the State’s embarrass ment—through the dla^rerilCng nf Conley’s story—In several different directions. The deefnse is seeking to show how utterlv absurd Conley’s story is from Frank's point of view, by setting up these incompatible things: That Mary Phagan (Conlev’s te*D, monvl reached the pencil factory suf ficiently well in advance of Montoen Stover (Conley's testimony) to go up to Frank’s office, get her nnv. be lured to a room in the rear and killed, not withstanding the fact that Mi«s Sto ver (Conley’s and Miss Stover’s testi mony^ reached th»> factory at 12:05. And this despite the fact that Mary Phagan could not have been in th d factory before 12:12. in anv event, if shown by Mrs. Coleman (Mary's mother). George Epps, a motorma■*, and a conductor. To get around this state of things, set up for the most part by tb° j State’s own witnesses, the State al- i ready has suggested, by a line of ex amination probably to be amplified, j that the car upon which Mary Phagan i came into town on Saturday. April 26 j ' was running AHEAD of scheduled time, an*l that the litle girl did. as a j witnesses’ statements, the State will move backward the time of the street car and move forward the time of the office clock! If the State can do that, which looks like a big Job, it will eliminate the dangerous time element In one direction, at least; but if It can not do that, tt will find itself in a most trying position. And whether it now can get away from its own established time element is one of the very prettiest problems involved in the entire case thus far! Again, the defense will insist that the time element cuts in another di rection most favorably in Frank’s behalf, when it will show by Conley’s evidence that the disposing of Mary Phagan's body began at 12:56, but that Frank was seen at the corner of Alabama and Whitehall streets at 1:10, waiting for a car. The latter fact is testified to by Miss Helen Cur ran positively, and she is unimpeach able. The defense contends that the body <>f Mary 1 Lagan could not have been disposed of. and the things done that Conley alleges were done, within the fourteen minutes of time thus allow ed, between the beginning of the work, according to Conley, and the time of Frank's presence two blocks and a half away. Conley would have been obliged to dispose of the body in the remarkable way he says he did, have written the notes, remained in the wardrobe eight minutes or more, all within the four teen minutes. According to the State’s own wit nesses. Conley was in the wardrobe eight minutes and used six minutes framing the notes. This would have consumed the entire fourteen min utes. without the dead girl’s body ever having been touched. It is admitted among lawyers gen erally that there is no defense so com pletely effective as a sustained alibi— which means that the crime alleged was 'committed in the absence and without the knowledge of the alleged principal to it. or. more properly stated, perhaps, that the crime could not have been committed by the de fendant because it would have been a physical impossibility for him to have effected it, in the circumstances of it. The past week, of courso. was the defense’s day in court, and it is but fair to say that it made good use of one of its time theories, tt will have greatly discredited Conley’s story. If It successfully maintains both theories, it will have about discredit ed the Conley story to the point of complete collapse. As It was out of order to conclude at the end of the second week of the Frank trial, however, that the State had made out a case that could not be broken down, so it now is out of order to conclude that the defense has broken dow T n the State. The State for one thing does not appear to be particularly alaTmed, either by the Injection of Frank’s character or by the turning of the time element against the Conley story. The State, It must be remembered, has not yet entered or disclosed its rebuttal, either of the character evi dence or the undermining of its own witnesses as to the time elements stated. State Seems Confident. Tt is perfectly confident of its abili ty to show that Frank’s! character is not good, despite the opinions of his friends, business associates and ac quaintances; and it will insist, indeed, that as in other depraved characters of the sort it claims Frank to be, his business acquaintances, his relatives and his social intimates w r ould be the very last people of all to discover the truth concerning him. The State, in seeking to prove Frank a dissolute character, may be forced to the summoning of dis solute characters, with whom he is alleged to have been associated in degrading practices, in order to prove its contention. Thus witnesses brought out by the State to establish Frank’s depravity are apt to be easier marks for Im peachment proceedings than wit nesses of the ordinary sort, and to that extent the breaking down of Frank’s character is pregnant with difficulty. Nevertheless, the State proposes to establish the fact of Frank’s degen eracy by witnesses of sufficient credi bility. particularly in the nature of the charge sought to be proved, to get by at least in sufficient numbers to over whelm the defendant. If the State can put up even one r two witnesses that can weather the gale of the defense’s rights of Im peachment, it will have put Frank In a most unenviable position before the Jury. If. therefore, it puts up 50 wit nesses, and 48 of them get knocked out, there still will remain the two that stood the test! Here. then, is another pretty prob lem to be thrashed out: Can the State, in sustaining a charge of de generacy against Frank, bring forth witnesses to prove it absolutely, and at the same time not bring forth wit nesses so much a party to Frank’s of fense that they will run serious risks in testifying themselves? A witness who 1? willing to swear that he saw Frank do thus and so. or was a party to Frank's doing thus and so. if the thus and so is particu larly reprehensible, is apt to get »n pretty thin ice himself, if he isn’t very careful! The State says it can and will rebut Frank's good character. If it doer?,, Frank is in unutterably bad shape: but if it doesn't. Frank’s cause must be helped tremendously. Girl on Stand Shouts She Would Die for Leo Frank MISS HANNA’S SCHOOL ‘eachtree Phone Ivy 2163 Opens Monday, September 8, for Its twenty-sixth session. A ;rr school with Primary, Grammar and Collegiate Departments, AU Music. Office hours, 8:30 to 11:30 a. m.; 1:30 to 4 p. m. Send For Booklet Employee of Pencil Factory Furnishes Dramatic Incident of Day—Dressing Room Evidence Is Brought Out. BIJOU Reopens Monday Matinee August THE JEWELL KELLEY CO., P ™;"' “HER FATA*. SHADOW" BiS y 2:30 H EVENINGS 8:30 || thur°sday b a! More than one hundred witnesses had been called to testify In defense of Leo M. Frank’s character when the third week of the factory super intendent’s trial concluded shortly af ter 1 o’clock Saturday. Character witnesses occupied most of the time during the four hours of Saturday’s session. They displayed a remarkable loyalty to their em ployer, who is being tried on the charge of being the murderer of little Mary Phagan. Only one of the num ber, Miss Irene Jackson, gave tesli- money In any way prejudicial to the case of Frank. The character testimony, vbe tale of the finding of Mary Phagan’s en velope and other so-called clews on the first floor of the factory by W. D. McWorth. Pinkerton operative, and the return of Mrs. Rae Frank, moth er of the defendant, formed the Im portant features of the day. Girl Furnishes Incident, A spectacular incident, which would have been even more amusing than it proved had it not been for the evident sincerity and profound earnestness of the witness, came in the testimony of Miss Sarah Barnes, one of the pencil factory employees. “I’d die for Mr. Frank If they’d let me!" she exclaimed almost the in stant F«he had composed herself in the witness chair. Attorney Arnold had only time to ask her the formal question: “Do you know Leo M. Frank, the defendant in this case?’’ oefore she Launched into a eulogistic description of the young factory su perintendent that left her breathless at the end of five minutes. ^ The attorney sought to interject an other of the formal questions pre scribed by law. but by the time she had caught her breath and w f as en gaged in telling her willingness to lay down her life, if need bo, to prove the guiltlessness of Frank. Attorney Arnold could not stop her The court could not dam the flood of words. She had a mind to speak an 1 she was determined to speak without check and without interruption. “I know Frank couldn’t have com mitted such a terrible deed.” she cried, accompanying her declaration with aa emphatic brandishing of her folded fan. "I nave known him ever since I have been in the pencil factory. He has always been kind to all of the employees and to the girls in par- | ticular. He never has done any of these things that have been told about him. He has always been a gentle man. Willing to Die for Him. 'Tve had to fight for him. almost, & number of times since these awful charges have been made against him. I’m willing to fight for him again. I am willing to die in his place.” At this point she turned toward the Jury and said: “You can give me any sort of a death you want. I know he is an In nocent man. I Just wish that I could make everyone believe in his inno cence." Attorney Arnold succeeded in the brief space of one of the moments w’hen she paused for a fresh start to ask the remainder of the questions he desired, and then gave her to Solicitor Dorsey. Dorsey met with the same trouble. He tried to get her to say with whom she had talked about the testimony :o which she was* to swear. Disregard ing his question as though if never had been asked, she continued In her encomiums of Frank until the court room spectators were convulsed with laughter and the Solicitor filed witn disgust at his inability to get the sort of answer he wanted from the girl. Miss Irene Jackson, daughter of County Policeman A. W. Jackson, was called by the defense as a character witness, but gave testimony on her cross-examination in regard to con duct by Franak which the State has construed as highly improper. Looked in Dressing Room. Miss Jackson said that so far as she knew the character of Frank was good and that she never had known him to attempt any liberties with the factory girls. To the Solicitor she admitted, however, that she three times had been in the girls’ dressing room when Frank had pushed open the door and looked In. Once Emmeline Mayfield had bean in the room with her, she said; once Mamie Kitchen and once her own isted, was dissipated as the Conley cross-examination proceeded, how ever. for eventually the defense DID move to strike out the evidence, but at that time it was too late. Having walked into the trap set by the State, If It indeed was a trap, the defense could not very well extri cate itself save by pleading Frank’s complete good character, and thus in a sweeping way dispose of the spe cific charge lodged against Frank by Conley, in addition to the murder charge. Once committed to the necessity of establishing Frank’s good 'character, however, the defense went at It in no half-hearted wav. It summoned indiscriminately every employee of the National Pencil Fac tory, male and female, old and new, and with unanimous voice they testi fied willingly and thoroughly that the defendant’s general character Is good. In addition to these witnesses, busi ness men, former college professors and classmates, and dozens of others fell into line with the same line of evidence. The State now stands, therefore, where it must close up the gap be tween its primary allegation, depend, ent alone upon Conley’s word so far, and the absolute proof of his sinis ter story. If the State in rebuttal is able to prove conclusively that Frank la the thing Conley has labeled him. the State’s case will go to the Jury dan gerously formidable. If It fails to substantiate and corrob orate Conley, it will go to the Jury greatly weakened. To overcome the fine showing as to Frank’s good character made by the | defense the State must bring forth i fitnesses In rebuttal that can not be mi peached. WThe Expression throughout Atlanta ns that to fall In the establishment : and corroboration of Conley’s story! by witnesses of Integrity and standing 1 New York Dental Office! 28 Z z and 32'/ 2 PEACHTREE STREET \ Over the Bonita Theater and Zakas' Bakery J Gold Crowns - $3.01 Bridge Work - $4.Q( Good Set Teeth - $3.0fl All Other Work at Reasonable Prices^ LADY ATTENDANT IVY 181. Dr. W. J. Harper Bring Us Your Films for Development We Give You BETTER RESULTS Why? Because We're Specialists at KGDAK FINISHING Challenge to State. It has frankly and aggressively urged Frank’s character as a vital fact in his favor, and it thereby chal lenged the State to do its very worst by way of breaking that character down, if it can. This attitude upon the part of the defense undoubtedly has had a steadying effect upon the public, too, for it seems at least to have suspend ed judgment pending the State’s re buttal. In addition to its insistence upon Frank’s good character, the defense unquestionably has given the State serious concern in the. w’ay it has brought forward the time element, and that in tw’o separate and dis tinct directions. if it successfully maintains either AND WE NEVER DI8APPOINT ASK FOR NEW PRICE LIST. We Also Carry a Complete Line of ] EASTMAN KODAKS, BROWNIE CAMERAS AND SUPPLIES GLENN PHOTO STOCK CO EASTMAN KOD VK COMPANY. Exctvshre Kodak Stora.