717 Page – American State Trials 1918 Volume X Leo Frank Document

Here is the translated text as follows:

MRS. HERMAN H. HIRSCH

To cover, and not even Bishop Candler, who has been sitting here so long, knows it better: I am no saint, but a sinner. However, there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who is saved than over ninety-nine who went astray.

Arnold is not a gentleman. He claims that he is bigger than all the lawyers and legislators of Georgia because he criticizes them when they make blackmail a misdemeanor and says it ought to be a felony. That man has so much sense that he is dangerous. I wonder why all the hair doesn’t come off his head. The great lawyer hears the dollars rattling in the pocket of the prosecutor. He is not representing the State of Georgia; he is representing money. I have great respect for Solicitor Boykin; he is a mild-mannered and nice man. Arnold, like myself, has never been honored by any office in the gift of the people. He must change his ways if he ever wants to get to Congress or on the bench.

I believe that the vindication of the defendant, Mrs. Hirsch, is near at hand. I believe you are going to turn the scales in her favor and end her suffering. God knows she has suffered untold misery. Mrs. Hirsch had the courthouse cleared on her own motion when she made her statement. It was not on the advice of attorneys, and it is to her eternal credit that she didn’t want the public to hear what she had to say. She made the best statement that ever fell from the lips of a prisoner charged with a crime. It brought tears to the eyes of all in the courtroom except Mr. Arnold. She made a statement no lawyer could have prepared. The only preparation which could render such a statement possible was that every word was the truth. It would be impossible for any man or woman to tell a lie for two hours without notes, with no contradiction. I was ready to close the case then, but we saw fit to put up evidence.

Let us end this thing here with a verdict of not guilty, for there is a court higher than the State, a court in Washington. There is nothing higher than that except the court of God, where all the truth will be known. Cook’s testimony clears her, and you ought to turn her loose based on his evidence.