Sunday, 27th July 1913 Plennie Minor Faces Task in Handling Court Room During Trial of Leo Frank

Atlanta Journal
July 27th, 1913

Genial Deputy Sheriff Will Have Seats for Only 250 People, and Hates to Think He Won't Be Able to Accommodate Everybody, for That's His Disposition

Plennie Minor is going to have the hardest job in Fulton county during the next two weeks.

Plennie (he doesn't allow people to call him Mr. Minor, for he is everybody's friend) is a Fulton county deputy sheriff and has the arduous task of keeping order in the court room while the Frank case is in progress. Incidentally, he will have to look out for witnesses and prisoners, and generally be the handy man about the trial.

Probably the worst job coming to him will be to keep the crowds out.

There are seats in the court room for 250 people and after they are filled everybody will be barred.

Plennie hates not to accommodate anybody, and declares that he wishes every man who wants to hear the trial could get a seat. But they cannot, and it would be a serious handicap to the progress of the trial if people were allowed to stand in the narrow aisles and in the doorways. Besides, Judge Roan has given instructions that people not be allowed in the court room after the seats are filled.

An efficient corps of bailiffs will be placed on each door and Plennie declares that he is going to see that perfect order is maintained throughout the trial of the case.

Deputy Minor was in charge of the court during the trial of Mrs. Daisy Grace and during other famous criminal trials, and as the result of his work he has received many compliments not only from Judge Roan, but from Judge Thomas and other visiting judges, who have presided here.

Especially hard will be the job of keeping out the crowds on the first day of the Frank trial, for then only a hundred spectators can be seated in the court, as there must be seats for the 144 veniremen who have been drawn.