Monday, 7th December 1914: Executive Clemency Frank’s Only Hope Following Decision, The Atlanta Journal

United States Supreme Court refuses to allow filing of Writ of Error in famous case with that bench. New sentence will be imposed during week. Governor Slaton declares he will review records and weigh all evidence before passing on case.

The Supreme Court of the United States, on Monday, refused to grant the Application for a Writ of Error on the motion to set aside the verdict in the case of Leo M. Frank, and before the expiration of the present week Frank will again be sentenced by Judge Ben H. Hill to death, according to the jury's verdict, for the murder of Mary Phagan.

Attorneys for Frank are considering another legal move, probably a Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Federal Court here, but no definite decision has been reached by the Attorneys, and no intimation of the exact nature of the contemplated move has been divulged. The convicted man's Attorneys all refuse to make any statement, when the news of the Supreme Court's action was told to them.

No move that may be made is expected to prevent the arraignment of Frank this week, to have the date of his sentence fixed again. On Wednesday morning, Judge Hill will be in the Superior Court for a short time and then the Solicitor will present him with a Writ of Habeas Corpus asking for the arraignment of Frank. Judge Hill will then fix the date for the bringing of Frank into Court. This date will be, in all probability, Thursday or Friday.

No Statement

Frank was sitting in his cell, conversing with his father, when the news came that the Courts again had refused him another chance for life. Neither he nor his father exhibited emotion or surprise, and the convicted man refused to make any statement.

Lawyers familiar with the Frank case declare that they know of no move that can be made by his Attorneys, except an appeal to the Pardon Board and Governor John M. Slaton for a Pardon or a commutation of sentence.

Attorney Harry A. Alexander, who is in Washington, where he appealed first to Justice Lamar, then to Justice Holmes and finally to the entire bench of the United States Supreme Court, stated Monday, according to dispatches, that he would take no further steps in Washington, but would return to Atlanta.

Chief Justice White, who rendered a verbal denial of the petition of Frank, made no further statement, and Washington Attorneys, according to dispatches, consider the case of Frank a closed book so far as the Courts of the State and the nation are concerned.

Slaton to Review Case

Before the news of the decision of the United States Supreme Court had been received in Atlanta, Governor Slaton was asked Monday if there was anything he cared to say in reference to the Frank Case.

"I will say to you just what I said to the New York Times in New York a few days ago, when they asked me for an interview," he replied. "I told the Times that if the Frank case came to me, I would deal with it just as I deal with every other case of similar character. I told them I was unacquainted with the evidence except in a general way, and that if the case came to me, I would read all the evidence carefully, just as I do in every case, before taking any action."

After the announcement of the United States Supreme Court's refusal to go into the Case, which refusal appears to leave Frank's last hope in Governor Slaton's hands, the governor was asked if he cared to say anything further. He said his statement earlier in the day was all he cared to say.