Thursday, 2nd October 1913 115 Reasons Given Why Frank Should Get Another Trial
The Atlanta Constitution,
Thursday, 2nd October 1913,
PAGE 1, COLUMN 7.
Hearing Is Set
Before Judge
Roan Next
Saturday, But
It Is Believed the
Solicitor
Will Ask
Postponement.
TWO JURORS
ATTACKED
IN RETRIAL
PETITION
Henslee and Johenning
De-
clared Prejudiced"
Object
to Alleged Illegal
Evidence
and to
Demonstrations.
Charging that two members of the jury, Henslee and
Johenning, were biased and prejudiced against the defendant;
that Judge L.S. Roan admitted illegal evidence, prejudicial to the
defendant, and that the popular applause from time to time, in
and outside of the courthouse, influenced the jury and made it
impossible for them to give him a fair trial, attorneys for Leo M.
Frank, convicted of the murder of Mary Phagan, have prepared
their amended motion for a new trial. The hearing is set for
Saturday morning, and, f heard at that time, Judge Roan will
probably preside.
At Attorney Rosser's office Wednesday afternoon, it was
stated that the intentions had been to serve the motion upon
Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey at noon Wednesday, but the
motion had not been finished in time. It was stated that the
service would be perfected Wednesday night if possible. At a late
hour Wednesday night the solicitor declared he had not been
served with the motion. It is expected that service will be made
today.
Attorney Leonard Haas, who, with Attorneys Reuben R.
Arnold, Luther Z. Rosser and Herbert Haas, represent the prisoner
sentenced to hang on October 10, will on today serve the solicitor
with a stenographic copy of the entire proceedings of the trial,
including the testimony of the hundreds of witnesses in the trial,
which covered nearly a month.
Formal Motion Some Time Ago.
The formal motion for a new trial for Frank was filed on the
day that he was sentenced. That was in skeleton form, and the
amended motion, which carries the detailed and enlarged
reasons, was the one witch which the solicitor will be served
today night at his home.
There are 135 instances cited as reasons for which the
prisoner should be tried again. The main ones consist in the
charge against the two jurors and the alleged illegal rulings of
Judge Roan. In the motion, Juror Henslee is referred to as J. A.
Henslee, while at the time of the trial his name was given as A.
H. Henslee. This si regarded as a stenographic error. M.
Johenning, the other juror attacked, is also charged with
preformed opinions regarding the guilt of the man on trial.
The motion states that affidavits to prove the prejudice of
the two jurors attacked will be furnished. Affidavits from two
Blakely, Georgia, men are already on file, but in these the two
men denied that Henslee had ever expressed to them partially. It
is understood that the defense has other affidavits by which it
hopes to show partiality.
Admission of testimony in regard to Frank's alleged
lasciviousness, his alleged immoral relations on previous
occasions with various women and the testimony of Jim Conley in
regard to watching for Frank on previous occasions while he is
alleged to have had young women in his office, also objected to.
Erred is Denying Mistrial.
The motion also declares that Judge Roan erred each time
that he refused to declare a mistrial when urged to do so by the
defenses, and also declared that he erred in not rebuking Solicitor
Dorsey and Attorney Frank A. Hooper, for various parts of their
arguments, which the defense asked should be stricken out and
for which the defense claimed they would be rebuked.
The amended motion covers its closely written typewritten
pages and goes into detail on the various points. It is not
regarded as possible that the solicitor can be ready to answer it
by Saturday morning at 10 o'clock when the hearing is to be
taken up. That he will ask for a postponement of several days or a
week is believed to be certain.
Various other objections in addition to the main ones cited
above are also
PAGE 2, COLUMN 1
contained in the motion. A condensed statement of the objections
made is as follows:
The allowing of Newt Lee to testify that Detective John
Black talked to Lee longer as the station house than did
Defendant Frank.
That the court allowed Lee to show that Frank talked to him
a shorter time than he (Frank) did to Attorney Arnold.
That the court allowed Detective Starnes to testify that Lee,
on the morning of his arrest, was quiet, and not unnerved, and
that the solicitor was later allowed to draw conclusions about
Frank's alleged nervous condition when approached by officers.
Many Errors Alleged.
That the court allowed Detective Starnes to swear that
Frank was guarded' tm bis conversation with the officers.
That the court admitted the solicitor's diagram of the
National Pencil factory in which the solicitor had drawn dotted
lines showing his theory of where the girl was killed, and how the
body was disposed of.
That the court permitted Detective Black to testify that in a
conversation several months before with him Frank showed no
nervousness.
That the court permitted it to be shown that Frank
employed Attorneys Rosser and Haas about 3 o'clock on Monday
morning after the murder.
That the court refused to allow Detective Black to tell on
cross-examination that Lee had said that the bloody shirt found in
his home was his own property.
That the court allowed Witness N. V. Darley to testify on the
morning of his arrest Lee was composed.
That the court refused to rule out the testimony made by
Conley as to the previous alleged watching for Frank, and also in
regard to Frank's alleged acts in having young women in his
office.
Meeting Was Blocked.
That the court admitted evidence in regard to Conley's
being taken to the jail to see Frank, and failing to see him, despite
his own wish and that of the officers.
It is cited that the interference was drawn by the solicitor
that Frank had refused to confront his black accuser, and Mr.
Dorsey, in his argument, asserted, It was the first time in the
history of the white race that a white man, charged with crime,
refused to see his accuser, and particularly when that accuser
was a member of the lower race.
That the court allowed Mrs. Arthur White, wife and relative
of the Frank's employees, to tell that she had reported, not to the
police, but to the pencil factory people, that she had seen a negro
lurking in the factory on the day of the murder.
That the court allowing Sheriff C. W. Mangum to tell of
Frank's refusing to confront Conley when the detectives and
policemen brought the negro to the jail to put them face to face.
That the court allowed Dr. H. F Harris to testify in regard to
experiments made with cabbages on patients and also that
medical men must draw conclusions not from an isolated case,
but from the general result of their scientific knowledge.
Dr. Harris' Testimony.
That the court allowed Dr. Harris to testify that from a
microscopic examination of the girl's stomach that he could tell
she had eaten the cabbage and bread within three-quarters of an
hour before she died.
That the court allowed C. B. Dalton to testify that he had
visited the pencil factory and had seen Frank drinking with
women in his office.
That the court allowed Detective Bass Rosser to testify that
he had frequently interviewed Mrs. Arthur White, and that not
until several weeks after she told the pencil factory people did
she tell him that she had seen a negro lurking around the factory
on the day of the murder.
That when the court declined to rule out part of Conley's
testimony relating to Frank's alleged lasciviousness that there
was loud and persistent hand-clapping and other applause in the
courtroom, and that the jury in the anteroom must have heard
this applause, and the court refused to grant a mistrial.
That the court did not clear the courtroom of the crowd,
which contained those filled with passion and prejudice against
Frank, and whose very presence was a menace to the jury.
Reference is here made to the jeering laugh of part of the
crowd when Attorney Arnold commented on part of the solicitor's
remarks and to the fact that Judge Roan did threaten to clear the
courtroom. Other references to applause at various times in the
courtroom is also made.
Cabbage Objected To.
That the court allowed the introduction of certain bottles
containing cooked cabbage which were said to have been
prepared in a similar way to those eaten by the murdered girl and
which were said to have remained in the stomach of certain
parties for thirty to fifty minutes before being pumped out.
That the court allowed Pinkerton Detective Harry Scott to
testify that he got no information from any officials of the National
Pencil company that Conely could write, at the time the negro
was denying this.
That the court allowed Solicitor Dorsey to comment on
Herbert Schiff, a witness for the defense, in a way that reflected
on his integrity.
That the court allowed Miss Hall, a stenographer, to testify
that on the morning of the murder Frank told her over the
telephone that he wanted her to help him, and that he had so
much work to do and it would take him until 6 o'clock.
That the court allowed Solicitor Dorsey to examine Frank
Chambers, a 15-year-old witness, in such a way as to insinuate
that Frank had committed acts of perversion with him.
That the court ruled out the testimony of Mrs. Freeman in
which she told that Lemme Quinn, a factory employee, had come
to the restaurant where she was eating at 11:45 o'clock that
Saturday and told her that he had just left Frank.
Would Bring Witnesses.
That the court allowed Solicitor Dorsey to declare to the
jury that he was not flour-flushing,' but that he was going to
bring witnesses to show Frank had committed immoral acts with
girls.
That the court allowed Sig Montag to testify that the pencil
factory had employed the Pinkertons, but had not yet paid them.
That the court allowed Car Inspector Leach to testify that he
had known of instances where motormen and conductors brought
their cars to the center of town several minutes ahead of time.
That the court allowed the solicitor's frequent references to
Frank's attitude toward women, which is not one of the character
traits involved in a plea of murder, even when the defendant has
put his character at issue.
Examination of Pinkertons.
That the court allowed the solicitor to examine Pinkerton
Detectives Whitfield and McWorth in a manner indicating that the
alleged failure of the Pinkertons to report the finding of a bloody
club to the police was detrimental to Frank; that the court did not
instruct the jury that these detectives were employed by the
National Pencil company and not by Frank and that the defendant
was not bound by what they did.
That the court permitted Irene Jackson to testify to an
alleged visit of Frank's to the dressing room of his female
employees while the said employees were in the room.
That the court allowed Harlee Branch to tell of
accompanying detectives and Conley when the negro went
through at the factory with what was alleged to be a pantomime
of the action of himself and Frank in disposing of the dead girl's
body.
Said Wages were Raised.
That the court allowed E. H. Pickett to testify of certain
admissions he is alleged to have secured from Minola McKnight, in
which she said her wages had been raised by the Selig family.
That the court allowed Misses Maggie Griffith, Myrtis Cato,
Marie Carst, Nellie Petty, May Davis and Estelle Winkle Petty, May
Davis and Estelle Winkle and Mesdames C. D. Donagan. H. R.
Johnson and E. Wallace to testify that they were acquainted with
the general character of Frank in regard to women previous to
April 26, 1913.
That the court allowed L. T. Kendric, a former employee of
the pencil factory, to testify regarding the reliability of the factory
clock.
That the court refused to grant a mistrial after the solicitor's
argument and before the judge's charge to the jury, when the
defense asked it on the grounds of the popular demonstration on
the streets over Solicitor Dorsey.
That the court allowed Attorney Hooper, for the state, to
argue to the jury that the failure of the defense to cross-examine
certain female witnesses was strong evidence of the fact that if
the defense had cross-examined them they would have related
instances of Frank's alleged misconduct with women.
Jurors Are Attacked.
The same objections are made to parts of the solicitor's
arguments to the jury.
That Juror Henslee was not a fair and impartial juror, and
was prejudiced against the defendant when he was elected as a
juror, and had previously formed and fixed an opinion as to the
guilt of the defendant and was biased in favor of the state when
chosen.
Practically the same charges are made against Juror
Johenning, and the motion declares that affidavits proving this will
be furnished to the court.
That the court refused to include in the charge to the jury a
number of points insisted upon by the defense, and particularly in
not leaving it to the jury to say whether or not Conley was an
accomplice, and instructing the jury that if they found that Conley
was an accomplice that it would be necessary to have the
testimony of some other party besides Conley to show Frank's
guilt.
The motion contains long extracts from various portions of
the testimony referred to and cites quotations from legal
decisions in regard to the points at issue. It also gives extracts
from the solicitor's speech, and contends that various remarks of
his when interrupted by Attorney Arnold were illegal and
improper.