Category: AMERICAN STATE TRIALS VOLUME X 1918

Here is the translated text as follows:228 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.I went back and wanted to know if they were ready to go, and at that time they were preparing to leave. I immediately went down to my office, opened the safe and my desk, hung up my coat and hat, and started to work on the financial report. Mr. Sebiff had not come down, and there was additional work for me to do.I heard the bell ring on the time clock, and Arthur White and Harry Denham came into the office. Arthur White borrowed $2.00 from me in advance

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 229On Saturday, I called the factory and asked Newt Lee if Mr. Gantt had gone again. He said, "Yes." I inquired if everything else was all right at the factory; it was, and then I hung up, had supper, and phoned my brother-in-law, Mr. Ursenbach, to see if he would be at home that evening. He said he had another engagement, so I stayed home reading a newspaper or magazine. Around 8 PM, I saw Minola pass by on her way home. That evening, my in-laws, Mr. and Mrs. Emil Selig,

Here is the translated text as follows:230 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.The nostrils and mouth were full of sawdust and swollen, and there was a deep scratch over the left eye on the forehead. Around the neck, there was twine—a piece of cord similar to that used at the pencil factory—and also a piece of white rag. After looking at the body, I identified that little girl as the one who had come up shortly after noon the previous day and got her money from me. We then left the undertaking establishment, got into the automobile, and rode over to the

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 231I went to the office where I sat and talked, answering every one of their questions freely and frankly, trying to aid and help them in any way that I could. After staying there for a few minutes, Mr. Darley and I went over to Bloomfield's; they told us somebody was busy with the body at that time and we couldn't see it. So we went over to Montag Brothers and found that nobody was down there. After that, I caught a Georgia Avenue car and rode to the house of

Here is the translated text as follows:232 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALSI was asked a few questions about it, and I said, "What did Newt Lee say?" "Well, Chief Lanford will tell you when you get down there." When I got down to police headquarters, Chief Lanford hadn’t come down yet. I waited around the office possibly an hour, chatting and talking to the officers. Later, Chief Lanford came in and said, "Come here," and beckoned to me. I went with him into his room in his office, and while I was in there, to the best of my recollection, it

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 233I called on a detective, preferably a Pinkerton detective, to work with and assist the city detectives in ferreting out the crime. Then I went downtown to the pencil factory, and upon entering the office, I saw the following men there: Mr. Herbert Schiff, Mr. Wade Campbell, Mr. Darley—Mr. Holloway was out in his place in the hall—and Mr. Stelker, Mr. Quinn, and Mr. Ziganke. These foremen were sitting around because we had shut down the factory, as they told me, due to the fact that the plant was wholly demoralized.

Here is the translated text as follows:234 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.I went to the top of the elevator shaft, then returned and showed the officer where the slipper had been found, where the hat had been found, and where the little girl's body was located. I showed him, in fact, everything that I could about the pencil factory. On Monday, I arrived at the factory around 8:30 and immediately began my routine work, sending the various orders to the different places in the factory where they were due to go. A little later, Detectives Scott and Black came up to

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANKI was introduced to the third degree of the Atlanta police department by detectives Scott and Black, who began questioning Newt Lee. The way Detective Black treated that poor old negro, Newt Lee, was something awful. He shrieked at him, hollered at him, cursed him, and did everything but beat him. Then they took Newt Lee down to a cell, and I went to my cot in the outer room.Before closing my statement, I wish to touch upon a couple of insinuations and accusations, other than the one on the bill of

Here is the translated text as follows:236 X, AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.When the negro Conley was arrested, I didn't know anybody had any suspicions about him. His name was not in the papers; I had no inkling that he ever said he couldn’t write. I was sitting in that cell in the Fulton County jail, about April 12th or 14th, when Mr. Leo Gottheimer, a salesman for the National Pencil Company, came running over and said, “Leo, the Pinkerton detectives have suspicions of Conley. He keeps saying he can't write; these fellows over at the factory know well enough that he

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 237The room had windows opening onto the street. There was no lock on the door, and I know I never went into that room at any hour when the girls were dressing. Occasionally, I have had reports that the girls were flirting from this dressing room through the windows with men; sometimes the girls would loiter in this room when they ought to have been doing their work. It is possible that on some occasions I looked into this room to see if the girls were doing their duty and were

Here is the translated text as follows:238X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.O. Jones, Miss Zill Spivey, Charles Lee, N. V. Darley, F. Ziganki, A. C. Holloway, and Minnie Foster testified that they were employees of the pencil company. They knew Leo M. Frank and stated that his general character was good.D. Macintyre, B. Wildauer, Mrs. Dan Klein, Alex Dittler, Dr. J. E. Sommerfield, F. G. Schiff, Al Guthman, Joseph Gershon, P. D. McCarley, Mrs. M. W. Meyer, Mrs. David Marx, Mrs. A. I. Harris, M. S. Rice, L. H. Moss, Mrs. L. H. Moss, Mrs. Joseph Brown, E. E. Fitzpatrick, Emil Dittler,

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK239I did it during business hours; I have never met Mr. Frank anywhere, or at any time, for immoral purposes.**Ruth Robinson:** I have seen Leo M. Frank talking to Mary Phagan. He would stand just close enough to her to tell her about her work; he would show her how to put rubbers in the pencils. He would just take up the pencil and show her how to do it; he called her Mary.**Dewey Hewell:** I stay in the Home of the Good Shepherd in Cincinnati. I worked at the pencil factory

Here is the translated text as follows:X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALSI waited outside for her two hours, then went in and found Mr. February reading over to her some stenographic statement he had taken. As to whether Minola McKnight did not sign this paper freely and voluntarily, it was signed in my absence while I was at the police station. That paper is substantially the notes that Mr. February read over to her.**Albert McKnight:** This sideboard sits more this way than it was at the time I was there.**Cross-examined:** Don’t know if the sideboard was changed, but it wasn’t sitting like

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK244A witness stated in the presence of Miss Haas and other passengers, "There has been so much talk that I don’t know what has been said; I don’t remember saying that I would join a party to help lynch him if he got out."**N. Kelly:** I am a motorman for the Power Company. On April 26th, I was at the corner of Forsyth and Marietta Street about three minutes after 12. I saw the English Avenue car of Matthews and Mr. Hollis arrive at Forsyth and Marietta about 12:03. I knew Mary

Here is the translated text as follows:242 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Based on the evidence I have listened to, I would say that it indicated digestion had been progressing for less than an hour.**Cross-examined:** I couldn’t presume to say how long that cabbage lay in Mary Phagan’s stomach. If it had been a live, healthy stomach and the process of digestion was going on ordinarily, it would be pulverized in four or five hours. It would be more broken up and triturated than it is.Dr. John Funk, an associate professor of pathology and bacteriology, was shown by Dr. Harris sections from

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 243It was impossible to see the direction she went in when she left the office. I didn’t keep the door locked downstairs that morning because the mail was coming in. I locked it at 1:10 when I went to dinner. Arthur White and Harry Denham were also in the building. They were working on the machinery, doing repair work, and Mrs. White was also in the building. I went up there and told them I was going to dinner and they had to get out, and they said they had not

Here is the translated text as follows:244 X, AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.A scratch pad that Conley wrote on; an ordinary white scratch pad.The following affidavit was executed by Minola McKnight:Saturday morning, April 26th, Mr. Frank left home about eight. Albert, my husband, got there about a quarter after one, and he was there when Mr. Frank came for dinner, which was about half-past one. Mr. Frank did not eat any dinner, and he left in about ten minutes. Mr. Frank came back to the house at seven o'clock that night, and Albert was there when he got there.Tuesday, Mr. Frank said

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANE, 245I remained at home all Saturday night. At 12 o'clock noon on Sunday, I walked up Mitchell Street and got a cigarette, remaining there until 12:45 p.m. I then returned home and stayed until 6:30 p.m., when I went to my mother's house to get my lunch. After lunch, I returned home and remained there until Monday, April 26th. On April 28th, I reported for work at the pencil factory at 7:05 a.m.STATEMENT OF JAMES CONLEY, MAY 24, 1913On Friday evening before the holiday, around one o'clock, Mr. Frank came up

Here is the translated text as follows:246 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.I have made up my mind to tell the whole truth, without the promise of any reward or from force or fear of punishment in any way.I got up Saturday morning, April 26th, between 9 and half-past 9. I went to Potera Street and stopped at the beer saloon, where I bought two beers for myself and gave another fellow a beer. I don’t know what his name was, but they call him Bob. Then I walked up to the Butt-In saloon and shot dice, winning 90 cents. After that,

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 247"Can you write?" I said, "Yes, sir, I can write a little bit," and then he gave me a pencil that he got off the top of his desk and told me to put on there, "Dear mother, a long tall black negro did this by himself," and when I went to put down "negro," I put it "n-e-g-r-o-s," and he said, "Don't put no 's' there; that means 'negroes,'" and he said, "Now rub the 's' off," and I rubbed the "s" out, and he said, "It means just one

Here is the translated text as follows:248 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.I laughed and said, "Good luck has done struck me," and I bought a ten-cent double-header. Then I went back to Peters Street, but none of the boys I ran with were there. I walked up to the moving picture show and looked at the pictures. I got home about half-past 2 o'clock, took the bucket, and went to get fifteen cents' worth of beer. I came back home and sent the little girl to get a dime's worth of stove wood and a nickel's worth of pan sausage. I

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 249When he whistled for me, I went upstairs, and he asked me if I wanted to make some money right quick. I told him, "Yes, sir," and he told me that he had picked up a girl back there and had let her fall, and that her head hit against something, he didn't know what it was. He asked me to move her. I hollered and told him the girl was dead, and he told me to pick her up and bring her to the elevator. I told him I didn't

Here is the translated text as follows:250 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Frank looked at it and said it was all right. Mr. Frank looked up at the top of the house and said, "Why should I hang? I have wealthy people in Brooklyn." I asked him what about me, and he told me that was all right about me, for me to keep my mouth shut, and he would make everything all right. Then I asked him where was the money he said he was going to give me, and Mr. Frank said, "Here, here is two hundred dollars," and he

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 251THE SPEECHES TO THE JURY**MR. HOOPER FOR THE STATE**August 21Mr. Hooper: Gentlemen of the Jury, the object of this trial, as well as all other trials, is the ascertainment of truth and the attainment of justice. In the beginning, I want to have it understood that we are not seeking a verdict of guilty against the defendant unless he is guilty.The burden of guilt is upon our shoulders—we confront the undertaking of putting it upon his. We recognize that it must be done beyond a reasonable doubt, and that it must

Here is the translated text as follows:252 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.We, the prosecution, require evidence, but we are not looking for blood indiscriminately. Our sole aim is to find the slayer of Mary Phagan, and in seeking him, I try as much as possible to feel as though I were one of you twelve jurors.Let's examine the situation on April 26 in the pencil factory. The factory was being run by Sig Montag as its boss, with Frank as its superintendent, assisted by the handsome Mr. Darley and the able Mr. Schiff.As a citizen of Atlanta, I am not proud

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 253But the defense, on the other hand, were allowed to let down the bars and walk in.That pencil factory was a great place for a man without a conscience. It was a great place for Frank, his handsome assistant, Mr. Darley, and the able Mr. Schiff. We find that Frank had coupled himself up for nightly meetings with Dalton, who now has, it seems, turned respectable. My friends, no doubt, will argue that it was strange a man of such business and social position should consort with such a character. It

Here is the translated text as follows:254 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.The attitude of the accused toward his victim is evident in the tall, good-natured Jim Gantt, a friend of Mary. He asks Gantt, "You're pretty thick with Mary, aren't you?" This shows that he knew her and had his eye on her. What happened next? He wanted to get rid of Gantt. How did he go about it? You have seen that previously, he was bragging about Gantt and his ability as a workman. But, just as soon as his eye was set upon the pretty little friend of Gantt,

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 255Truth is stronger than all the brains and ingenuity that can be collected in this whole town—this state, the world. How they did hate to give up the fight. They lost, and with the loss went the loss of their theory in whole.When all was through, they were forced to sit and leave Jim's truth unassailed. How unfortunate! All they could say was that Jim had been a big liar. That is true. In his first two stories, he lied. But, if I had any comment on Jim Conley, it would

Here is the translated text as follows:256 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.On that fateful day, Leo Frank knew the hour. On the previous afternoon, little Helen Ferguson, Mary's chum, had called for Mary's pay, and Frank had told her that Mary should come and get her own pay, breaking a rule of the plant in doing so. He arranged with Jim to hang around and make himself convenient. Jim took his accustomed seat in the hallway. Parties came and went. Jim observed all that happened; he said nothing. Finally, Mary Phagan arrived, beautiful and innocent, coming in her blue frock and

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO Hl. FRANE. 257The negro reported hearing a sound that seemed like a laugh broken off into a shriek. It pierced the stillness of the hushed building. Though it was uncanny, he remained seated faithfully, as he was under orders to wait for a signal. That scream was not the signal. Later, Frank would stamp on the office floor.This negro claims that the white man killed the little girl. However, Frank was in his office, preoccupied with his wonderful financial sheet. I will demonstrate how he could have sat at his desk and heard

Here is the translated text as follows:258 X, AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Now, which is more probable—that Jim heard this expression, or that he imagined the story? Did Jim know Frank had relatives in Brooklyn? Did Jim know there was such a place as Brooklyn? Did he know they were rich? And Jim says, with the typical soul of Africa: "What's going to become of me?" Frank says, "I'll take care of you, for I'll write my mother a letter, so that she can help you." He asks Jim if he can write, and Jim tells him a little bit. He wasn't

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 269Leo M. Frank was expecting Jim Conley, and he also knew that Newt Lee was coming. Aye, there was the rub! He expected them both, and it depended upon which one arrived first as to how things would go. If Jim got there first and disposed of that body, all right; but suppose Newt Lee got there first! Then was the defendant in the position of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, when he wondered which army would arrive first, and knew that upon this question depended victory or defeat. The

Here is the translated text as follows:260 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS,The defendant was going to pay a dollar or so. He didn't think that Gantt stole that paltry dollar. He expected him to ask where Mary Phagan was. That, gentlemen of the jury, is why he jumped back when he saw Gantt. But Gantt spoke to the defendant. He just said, "Howdy, Mr. Frank." The defendant felt relieved then. Gantt told him that he had left a pair of shoes in the factory and wanted to get them. But it won't do to let him go in that building now,

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANKWe need not delve into many details in this respect. You remember the evidence about honest old Newt Lee's finding the body. That's all we need to know about him. No suspicion attaches to Newt. He notified the police and tried to notify Frank. The police came and took the body of little Mary Phagan to the undertaker's.The police then called up Frank and told him they wanted him. Detective Starnes got mixed up when he told about this on the stand, but he never forgot that when he called Frank up,

Here is the translated text as follows:262 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.With a lot of things piled on top of it, he found a bloody shirt! How did it get there? Newt Lee accounts for his time on Sunday. No suspicion attaches to Newt Lee. He is a free man. How did that bloody shirt get there? It had to be planted. Gentlemen, it was planted! Here are the two propositions, gentlemen: If Newt Lee was to be made the scapegoat, suspicion had to be directed to him. Somebody had to plant that suspicion.He would sacrifice Newt Lee that he might

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANKHe is the man about whom it appeared that the whole fight would center. If he could convince you that Jim confessed the murder to him, that would let Frank out! Yet where is Mincey? Gentlemen, this has been a long testimony which you have had to sit through, and I do not wish to take up any more of your time than necessary.Gentlemen, the only belief required of you is the same sort of belief that you would have on the street, at your places of business, or in your homes,

Here is the translated text as follows:264 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.There are fellows like that streetcar man, Kendley, the one who vilified this defendant here and cried for him to be lynched, and shouted that he was guilty until he made himself a nuisance on the cars he ran. Why, I can hardly realize that a man holding a position as responsible as that of a motorman and a man with certain police powers and the discretion necessary to guide a car through the crowded city streets would give way to passion and prejudice like that. It was a type

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 265Employees who have worked at the plant for three or four years have been induced to come up here and swear that Frank does not have a good character, but the decent employees down there have sworn to his good character. Look at the jailbirds they brought up here, the very dregs of humanity, men and women who have disgraced themselves and who now have come and tried to swear away the life of an innocent man.I know that you members of the jury are impartial. That's the only reason why

Here is the translated text as follows:266 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.In words that burned, I condemned the third-degree methods of the police and detectives. They used those methods with Jim Conley. My friend, Hooper, claimed that nothing held Conley to the witness chair here but the truth, but I tell you that the fear of a broken neck held him there. I think this decision about the third degree was handed down with Conley’s case in mind. I’m going to expose this Conley business before I finish. I’m going to show that this entire case is the greatest frame-up in

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 287It's the crime of a cannibal, a man-eater. Hooper is hard-pressed and wants to concoct a plot—he sees he has to come up with something. He forms his plot from Jim Conley's story.They say that on Friday, Frank knew he was going to make an attack of some sort on Mary Phagan. The plot thickens. Of all the wild things I have ever heard, that is the wildest. It is ridiculous. Mary Phagan worked in the pencil factory for months, and all the evidence they have produced that Frank ever associated

Here is the translated text as follows:268 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Never said a word about Mary's envelope. There's your conspiracy, with Jim Conley's story as its foundation. It's too thin. It's preposterous.Then my friend Hooper says Frank discharged Gantt because he saw Gantt talking to Mary Phagan. If you convict men on such distorted evidence as this, you'd be hanging men perpetually. Gantt, in the first place, doesn't come into this case in any good light. It is ridiculously absurd to bring his discharge into this plot of the defense. Why, even Grace Hicks, who worked with Mary Phagan, and

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANKEverything brought against Frank was some act he did openly and in broad daylight, and an act against which no objection was made.The trouble with Hooper is that he sees a bear in every bush. He sees a plot in this because Frank told Jim Conley to come back Saturday morning. The office that day was filled with people throughout the day. How could he know when Mary Phagan was coming or how many people would be in the place when she arrived?This crime is the hideous act of a negro who

Here is the translated text as follows:270 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.All chips but one were not blood. Dorsey's own doctors have put him where he can't wriggle—his own evidence hampers him! They found blood spots on a certain spot and then had him adapt his story accordingly. They had him put the finding of the body near the blood spots, and had him drop it right where the spots were found.It stands to reason that if a girl had been wounded on the lathing machine, there would have been blood in the vicinity of the machine. Yet, there was no

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANKFor instance, this Dalton, who openly claims that he went into the basement with Daisy. I don't believe he ever did, but in such a case, he slipped in. There are some fallen women who can tell the truth. They have characteristics like all other types. We put her on the stand to prove Dalton a liar, and she did it. Now, gentlemen, don't you think the prosecution is hard-pressed when they put up such a character as Dalton? They say he has reformed. A man with thievery in his soul never

Here is the translated text as follows:272 X, AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.They planted it, but it does look suspicious. Don’t ask us about a planted shirt; ask Scott and Black.The first thing that points to Conley’s guilt is his original denial that he could write. Why did he deny it? Why? I don’t suppose much was thought of it when Jim said he couldn’t write, because there are plenty of negroes who are in the same situation. But later, when they found he could, and found that his script compared perfectly with the murder notes, they went right on accusing Frank.

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 273Leo M. Frank had to tell a lie and put upon someone the burden of instructing him to write the notes. The first statement about them was a blunt lie—a lie in its incipiency. He said he wrote the notes on Friday. This was untrue and unreasonable, and he saw it. Frank could not have known anything of an intended murder on Friday from any viewpoint you might take, and therefore he could not have made Conley write them on Friday. Ah, gentlemen of the jury, I tell you these people

Here is the translated text as follows:Q74 X, AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.There is detail enough in the morning, and he admits that they are lies. Now, in his third statement, that of May 28, he changes the time of writing the letters from Friday to Saturday. Here are two pages of what he said, all of which he afterwards said were lies. He says that he made the statement that he wrote the notes on Friday in order to divert suspicion from his being connected with the murder which happened on Saturday. He also says that this is his final and

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 216I don't think that Newt killed the girl, but I believe he discovered the body some time before he notified the police. Newt's a good man.Scott said that it took Conley six minutes to write a part of one note. Conley said that he wrote the notes three times.They say that man couldn't lie. Gentlemen, if there is any one thing that man can do, it is to lie. As my good old friend, Charlie Hill, would say, "Put him in a hopper and he'll drip lies!"He was trying to prove

Here is the translated text as follows:276 AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.For that statement he put in Frank's mouth, it so happened, though, that Frank really did not have rich relatives in Brooklyn. His mother testified that his father was in ill health and had but moderate means, and that his sister worked in New York for her living.Gentlemen, am I living or dreaming that I have to argue such points as these? This is what you've got to do: You've got to swallow every word that Conley has said—feathers and all, or you've got to believe none of it. How are

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANKThe prosecution used profanity and worried him to get a confession. Hooper thinks that we have to break down Conley's testimony on the stand, but there is no such ruling. You can't tell when to believe him; he has lied so much. Scott says the detectives went over the testimony with Dorsey. That's where my friend got into it. They grilled Conley for six hours, trying to impress on him the fact that Frank would not have written the notes on Friday. They wanted another statement. He insisted that he had no

Here is the translated text as follows:278 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.That fitted. And Conley changed things every time he had a visit from Dorsey and the detectives. Are you going to hang a man on that? Gentlemen, it's foolish for me to have to argue such a thing.The man that wrote those murder notes is the man who killed that girl. Prove that man was there and that he wrote the notes, and you know who killed the girl. Well, Conley acknowledges he wrote the notes, and witnesses have proved he was there, and he admits that, too. That negro

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 219The detectives told Conley to swear to this and to swear to that, but they made the suggestions, and Conley knew whom he had to please. He knew that when he pleased the detectives, the rope knot around his neck grew looser. In the same way, they made Conley swear about Dalton, and in the same way about Daisy Hopkins. They didn't ask him about the mesh bag. They forgot that until Conley got on the stand. That mesh bag and that pay envelope furnish the true motive for this crime,

Here is the translated text as follows:280 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Every word on that chart is taken from the evidence, and it will show you that Frank did not have time to commit the crime charged to him. The state has wriggled a lot in this affair; they put up little George Epps, and he swore that he and Mary Phagan got to town about seven after twelve. Then they used other witnesses, and my friend Dorsey tried to boot the Epps boy's evidence aside as though it were nothing. The two streetcar men, Hollis and Mathews, say that Mary

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANKHarlee Branch stated that he was present when the detectives made Conley reenact what he claimed had taken place. According to Branch, Conley started at 12:17 and took 50 minutes to complete the motions. The state has attacked nearly everyone we have brought into this case, but they did not attack Dr. William Owen. Dr. Owen's experiments demonstrated that Conley could not have gone through those motions in 34 minutes.Jim Conley declared that he started at four minutes to one o'clock to get the body, and that he and Frank left at

Here is the translated text as follows:282 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS,Frank couldn't have known that there was enough hatred left in this country against his race to bring such a hideous charge against him. The little girl entered the factory, received her pay, inquired about the metal, and then left. However, there was a black spider waiting down there near the elevator shaft—a great, passionate, lustful animal, full of cheap whiskey and wanting money to buy more. He was as full of vile lust as he was of the passion for more whiskey. The negro (and there are a thousand

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 283Mrs. Selig and Mr. Selig swore on the stand that they knew Leo Frank came home at 1:20. Of course, Dorsey claims they are Frank's parents and wretched liars when they say they saw him come in at 1:20. According to Dorsey, there's no one in this case that can tell the truth but Conley, Dalton, and Albert McKnight. They are the lowest dregs and jail-birds, but they are the only ones who know how to tell the truth!Albert says he was at the Selig home when Frank came in; of

Here is the translated text as follows:284 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.The prosecution introduced witnesses who swore that the woman and Frank had gone into the woman's dressing room when no one was around. I brand it a culmination of all lies when this woman was attacked. Frank had declared her to be a perfect lady with no shadow of suspicion against her.Well, Frank went back to the factory that afternoon after he had eaten his lunch, and he started in and made out the financial sheet. I don’t reckon he could have done that if he had just committed a

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 285Among the speakers, and but for the masterly effort of my brother, Arnold, I almost wish it had ended with no speaking. My condition is such that I can say but little; my voice is husky and my throat almost gone. But for my interest in this case and my profound conviction of the innocence of this man, I would not undertake to speak at all.I want to repeat what my friend, Arnold, said so simply. He said this jury is no mob. The attitude of the juror's mind is not

Here is the translated text as follows:986 X, AMERICAN STATE TRIALS,You can find good men and women in all strata of life, and yet the detectives, working with microscopes and with the aid of my friend, Dorsey, excited almost beyond peradventure, found only two to swear against Frank. They found Dalton and they found Conley. Well, I'll take up Conley at a more fitting time, but Dalton, who is Dalton? God Almighty writes on a man's face, and he doesn't always write a pretty hand, but he writes a legible one. When you see Dalton, you put your hand on

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANE. 287Dalton was a member of his race, and he was a thief and worse, if there can be, and yet he joined the church. He joined the church and he's now a decent, believable man. Well, you remember how brazenly he sat here on the stand and bragged of his "peach," how indecently he bragged of his fall; how he gloated over his vices. He was asked if he ever went to that miserable, dirty factory basement with a woman for immoral purposes, and he was proud to say that he

Here is the translated text as follows:288 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Of course, Dalton left an oozy trail behind him; wherever he went, he did that. You can still feel it in this courtroom. Of course, too, Dalton may have gone into the pencil factory that day and left his cozy, slimy trail there, but otherwise, there's nothing against the factory, and you know there's not, for our great quartet—Starnes and Campbell and Black (oh, how I love Black; I always want to put my arms around him whenever I think of him), and Scott, for he was with that crowd;

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 289Now, another thing. We didn't have to put Frank's character up. If we hadn't, the judge would have told you that Frank must be presumed to have a good character, and that you did not have the right to ask that question about him. But we thought you were, and we put it up and see what a character the man has. There's not a man in the sound of my voice who could prove a better character. Of course, I mean from the credible evidence, not that stuff of Conley's

Here is the translated text as follows:290 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Mary Wallace, there three days, and Estelle Wallace, there a week, and Carrie Smith, who like Miss Cato, worked there three years. These are the only ones in the hundreds who have worked there since 1908 who will say that Frank has a bad character. Why, you could find more people to say that the Bishop of Atlanta, I believe, had a bad character than have been brought against Frank.You noticed they were not able to get any men to come from the factory and swear against Frank. Men are

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 201Can such a scene indicate any sign of lascivious lust? I can't see for the life of me where it does. Does what Willie Turner saw, taking for granted he saw it, show that Frank was planning to ruin little Mary Phagan? Does it uphold this plot my friend Hooper had so much to say about? Even with that—considering Willie Turner did see such a thing, there's one fact that takes the sting out of it. He saw it in broad daylight. Frank was with the little girl right in front

Here is the translated text as follows:292 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Though he's a mighty bright man, it is true that some of the pay envelopes were left over on Friday, but he didn't know whose they were. Helen Ferguson says that on Friday she asked for Mary Phagan's pay and that Frank refused to give it to her, saying Mary would come the next day and get it herself. Magnolia Kennedy swears to the contrary. You have one or the other to believe. Consider, though, that this be true! How would Frank know who would be in the factory when

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 298Some of us are early birds, while others slumber even through the tempting call of the breakfast bell. Would you hang us for that?Then, they say he hired a lawyer, and they call it suspicious—mighty suspicious. They wouldn't have kicked if he had hired Rube Arnold, because Rube has a good character. But they hired me, and they kicked and yelled "suspicions" so loudly you could hear it all the way from here to Jesup's cut. I don't know that I had ever met Frank before that morning, but I had

Here is the translated text as follows:294 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Upon arrest, as they say, the accused were held without the privilege of seeing friends, relatives, or counsel. It was a deplorable state of affairs. What happened?Haas went to the phone and called an older and more experienced head to battle with this police iniquity. Why shouldn't he? Dorsey sees in this harmless message a chance. He snaps at it like a snake. Dorsey is a good man—in his way. He'll be a better man, though, when he gets older and loses some of his present spirit and venom. There

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 295What about the Conley story and the Minola McKnight story that are hidden in the still darker recesses of police headquarters?Frank makes his statement and is released. He goes back to the pencil factory, assuming that suspicion has been diverted from him. He thinks of the horrible murder that has been committed in his plant. He telephones Sig Montag about hiring a detective agency to solve the crime. Sig advises him to do it. I don't believe there is any detective living who can consort with crooks and criminals and felons,

Here is the translated text as follows:296 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.But I don't want to. This seems to me the most unkindest cut of all. They say that that time slip was planted. They say the shirt was planted. Gentlemen, is there any evidence of this? Let's see about this statement. Black and somebody else, I believe, went out to Newt's house on Tuesday morning and found the shirt in the bottom of a barrel. They brought the shirt back to the police station and Newt said the shirt was his—or it looked like his shirt. Newt Lee had been

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 297Here is another suspicious thing. Newt Lee came to the factory at four o'clock, and Frank sent the old man away. It was suggested that he was afraid the nigger would find the body, yet when he came back at six, Frank let him stay at the factory when he knew that in thirty minutes Newt was on the job and must go into the basement where they say Frank knew the body was.They say he was laughing at his home. If he had known of the crime of which he

Here is the translated text as follows:298 AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Conley's Proof.None of these individuals ever came forward and said Conley was there and that they were with him. Starnes—and Starnes could find a needle in a haystack, but the Lord only knows what he’d do in an acre—could not find any of these people.Then there was that old negro drayman, old McCrary, the old peg-leg negro drayman, and thank God he was an old-timer, a "fo' de war" nigger. You know Conley, wishing to add a few finishing trimmings to his lines, said that old McCrary sent him down to

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 299They learned that Conley could write. Frank told them that, you know. Well, I don’t mean to be severe, but they took that negro and gave him the third degree. Black and Scott cursed him. "You black scoundrel," they yelled at him. "You know that man never had you come there and write those notes on Friday!" And the poor negro, understanding and trying to please, said, "Yes, boss, that's right, I was there on Saturday." And so they went on and got first one affidavit and then another out of

Here is the translated text as follows:300 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Dorsey did, only he gave him several lessons, and they must have been just sort of finishing touches before he got his degree. Well, in the university course, they didn't dare put the steps in writing, as they had done in the high school; it would have been too easy to trace from step to step, the suggestions made, the additions and subtractions here and there.Professor Dorsey had him seven times, I know that, but God alone knows how many times the detectives had him. Was it fair to take

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 301You must do what you must do—you must make Minola's husband a perjurer, and that would be terrible.You know about that Minola McKnight affair. It is the blackest of all. A negro woman was locked up from the solicitor's office, not because she would talk—she's given a statement—but because she would not talk to suit Starnes and Campbell. And two white men, to their shame, got her into it. Where was Chief Beavers? What was he doing that he became a party to this crime? Beavers, who would enforce the law;

Here is the translated text as follows:302 XY. - AMERICAN STATE TRIALS"The benches always stuck it out, but they were screwed to the floor." You gentlemen have been practically in that fix, but I feel, nevertheless, that you have been peculiarly kind, and I thank you.THE SOLICITOR GENERAL FOR THE STATEMr. Dorsey: Gentlemen of the Jury, this case is not only, as His Honor has told you, important, but it is extraordinary. It is extraordinary as a crime—a most heinous crime, a crime of a demoniac, a crime that has demanded vigorous, earnest, and conscientious effort on the part of

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 308Did we hear cries of prejudice when we arrested Gantt, when we arrested Lee, when we arrested others? No, the prejudice came when we arrested this man, and never until he was arrested was there a cry of prejudice.Those gentlemen over there were disappointed when we did not pitch our case along that line, but not a word emanated from this side, showing any prejudice on our part, showing any feeling against Jew or Gentile.We would not have dared to come into this presence and ask for the conviction of a

Here is the translated text as follows:804 XY, AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.The Honorable Judge will charge you that you should not convict this man unless you think he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.A great many jurors, gentlemen, and the people generally get an idea that there is something mysterious and unfathomable about this reasonable doubt proposition. It's as plain as the nose on your face. The text writers, lawyers, and judges go around in a circle when they undertake to define it; it's a thing that speaks for itself, and every man of common sense knows what it is, and

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANE. 305Circumstantial evidence can be as reliable as direct evidence. Eminent authorities have shown that in many cases, circumstantial evidence is more certain than direct evidence. A conviction can be established more effectively by a large number of witnesses providing circumstantial evidence and incidents pointing to guilt than by the testimony of a few witnesses who may have been eyewitnesses to the actual deed.In this case, we have both circumstantial evidence and an admission. With reasonable doubt as a basis, the evidence shows such consistency that a reasonable conclusion is all that

Here is the translated text as follows:306 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.The defendant is presumed to have a good character. Had he not put his character in issue, it would have been presumed, and the State would have been absolutely helpless in proving that this man was not as good a man as lived in the City of Atlanta. It's a mighty easy thing, if a man is worth anything, if a man attains to any degree of respectability, to get someone to sustain his character. However, it's the hardest thing known to a lawyer to get people to impeach the

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 307I am at ease, and I know the conscience that abides in the breast of honest, courageous men.Now, the book says that if a man has good character, nevertheless it will not hinder conviction if the guilt of the defendant is plainly proved to the satisfaction of the jury—as it was in the Durant case. I submit that, character or no character, this evidence demands a conviction. And I'm not asking you for it either because of prejudice—I'm coming to the perjury after a bit. Have I so forgotten myself that

Here is the translated text as follows:308 XY. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS."We did exercise that right in the examination of one witness, but knowing that we couldn't put specific instances in unless they drew it out, I didn't want even to do this man the injustice, so we suspended, and we put it before this jury in this kind of position—you put his character in, we put up witnesses to disprove it, you could cross-examine every one of them and ask them what they knew and what they had heard and what they had seen; we had already given them enough

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 309Is it possible for someone to have the audacity and passion to come up here and swear that that man's character is bad if it is not true? I tell you it can't be done, and you know it.Ah, but on the other hand, Doctor Marx, Doctor Sonn, and all these other people, as Mr. Hooper said, who run with Doctor Jekyll, don't know the character of Mr. Hyde. And he didn't call Doctor Marx down to the factory on Saturday evenings to show what he was going to do with

Here is the translated text as follows:310 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.He says, "You tell me to go up there to the girls' dressing room, shove open the door and walk in as a part of his duty, when he has foreladies to stop it? No, indeed." And old Jim Conley may not have been as far wrong as you may think. He says that somebody went up there that worked on the fourth floor, he didn’t know who. This man, according to the evidence of people that I submit you will believe, notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Reuben R. Arnold

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 311According to the law, they had the right to delve into that character, and you saw that on cross-examination they dared not do it. I have here an authority that puts it right squarely: "Whenever anyone has evidence (83 Ga., 581) in their possession, and they fail to produce it, the strongest presumption arises that it would be hurtful if they had, and their failure to produce evidence is a circumstance against them."You don't need any law book to know that this is true, because your common sense tells you that

Here is the translated text as follows:312 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.He appeared on the outside as a whited sepulcher, but was as rotten on the inside as it was possible to be.So, he has no good character, I submit, and never had it; he has a reputation—that's what people say and think about you—and he has a reputation for good conduct only among those people who don't know his character. But suppose that he had a good character; that would amount to nothing. David of old was a great character until he put old Uriah in the forefront of battle

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 313The case culminated in sending him to prison for three long years. He was the man who led the aesthetic movement; he was a scholar, a literary man, cool, calm, and cultured. As I say, his cross-examination is a thing to be read with admiration by all lawyers, but he was convicted, and in his old age, went tottering to the grave, a confessed pervert. Good character? Why, he came to America after having launched what is known as the 'Aesthetic movement' in England, and throughout this country lectured to large

Here is the translated text as follows:314 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.It is courageous enough to let that man who had taken that poor girl's life to save his reputation as the pastor of his flock go, and it is an illustration that will encourage and stimulate every right-thinking man to do his duty. Then, there's Beattie. Henry Clay Beattie, of Richmond, of a splendid and wealthy family, proved to be of good character, though he didn't possess it. He took his wife, the mother of a twelve-month-old baby, out automobiling and shot her; yet that man, looking at the blood

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 315I want to read you a definition that an old darkey gave of an alibi, which I think illustrates the idea. Rastus asked his companion, "What's this here alibi you hear so much talk about?" And old Sam says, "An alibi is proving that you was at the prayer meeting, where you wasn't, to show that you wasn't at the crap game, where you was."Now, right here, let me interpolate, this man never made an admission, from the beginning until the end of this case, except when he knew that someone

Here is the translated text as follows:316 X, AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.While waiting for her companions, this daughter of an employee of Montag comes into this presence and tells you an unreasonable, absurd story. It's a story that contradicts the one made by Frank, which has been introduced in evidence and will be out with you. She claims she saw that fellow up there at Jacobs'.On this time proposition, I want to read you this—it made a wonderful impression on me when I read it. It's the wonderful speech of a wonderful man, a lawyer to whom even such men as

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 317On the day of the murder of this girl on Saturday, he forgot to get the raincoat that old Jim saw him have. Miss Mattie Smith leaves the building, you say, at 9:20 A.M. She said—or Frank says—at 9:15. You have it on this chart here that's turned to the wall that Frank telephoned Schiff to come to his office at 10 o'clock, and yet this man Frank, coolly, composedly, with his great capacity for figures and data, in his own statement says that he gets to Montag's at that hour.

Here is the translated text as follows:318 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Mr. Dorsey: No, they didn't see him there. I doubt if anybody else saw him there either.Mr. Arnold: If a crowd of people here laugh every time we say anything, how are we to hear the Court? He has made a whole lot of little misstatements, but I let those pass, but I'm going to interrupt him on every substantial one he makes.Mr. Dorsey: He says those ladies saw Quinn—says they "saw Quinn was there before 12, and before I left there at 1 o'clock." "You saw him at that,

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 319The argument against those men was that they had only cobwebs, weak and flimsy circumstances, and these circumstances were inconsistent with the theory of guilt and consistent with some other hypothesis.But as to this man, you have got cables, strong, so strong that even the combined ability of the erudite Arnold and the dynamic Roeser couldn't break them or disturb them.Circumstantial evidence is just as good as any other kind when it's the right kind. It's a poor case of circumstantial evidence against Newt Lee; it's no case against that long-legged

Here is the translated text as follows:320 & AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Until that time—"I didn't stay there very often on Saturday afternoon;" Miss Fleming didn't stay there all afternoon. Now, gentlemen, I submit that this man made that financial sheet Saturday morning. He could have fixed up that financial sheet Saturday afternoon, but he wouldn't have done it without Schiff having furnished the data if he hadn't been suspecting an accusation of murdering that little girl. A man of Frank's type could easily have fixed that financial sheet—a thing he did fifty-two times a year for five or six years—and could

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 821But whether or not he made out that financial sheet, I'll tell you something that he did do on Saturday afternoon, when he was waiting up there for old Jim to come back to burn that body. I'll tell you something that he did do—and don't forget the envelope and don't forget the way that paper was folded, either. Don't forget it. Listen to this: "I trust this finds you and dear tont (that's the German for aunt) well after arriving safe in New York. I hope you found all the

Here is the translated text as follows:322 X, AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Fair men, courageous men, true Georgians, seeking to do your duty, consider this: that phrase, penned by that man to his uncle on Saturday afternoon, didn't come from a conscience that was its own accuser. "It is too short a time since you left for anything startling to have developed down here." What do you think of that? And then listen to this—as if that old gentleman, his uncle, cared anything for this proposition, this old millionaire traveling abroad to Germany for his health, this man from Brooklyn. An eminent

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 323Frank was associated with a store employing two or three people, and we don't know how many more. If his uncle wasn't in Brooklyn, he was so near there that even Frank himself thought he was at the very moment he claimed to be there. He says, "You have seen or are with the people in Brooklyn."Let's go a step further. On April 28th, he wired Adolph Montag in care of the Imperial Hotel. Listen now to what he says: "You may have read in Atlanta papers of factory girl found

Here is the translated text as follows:324 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.He said all right. He didn't want him to run anywhere else because he wanted him to work hand in glove with these men, and he wanted to know what they did, what they said, and what they thought. But Haas—and he's nobody's fool—when he saw that they were getting hot on the trail, opened up the conversation with the suggestion that "now you let us have what you get, first," and if Scott had fallen for that suggestion, then there would have been something else. You know it. You

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 325Schiff, as willing and anxious as he was, couldn't stultify himself to such an extent as to tell you that Frank did that work on Saturday morning. But if he did write that financial sheet Saturday afternoon, a thing I submit he didn't do—I'm willing to admit he wrote that letter—I ask you, as fair, honest, and disinterested jurors representing the people of this community in seeing that justice is done and that the man who committed that dastardly deed has meted out to him that which he meted out to

Here is the translated text as follows:326 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Frank: "Tuesday morning?" "I saw him Tuesday morning"—he was up there on the fourth floor after the murder, on Tuesday, sometime between nine and eleven o'clock." I said, "Between nine and eleven, somewhere along there!" "Sometime between nine and eleven thirty." "Now, Jim Conley and Leo M. Frank were both on your floor between the same hours?" "I saw Mr. Frank and I saw Jim Conley.""You know it because you had a conversation with Mr. Frank, and you had a conversation with Jim Conley!" "Yes, I saw them both." And

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 327Let's talk about Jim Conley reading the newspapers. If Jim had committed that crime and he hadn't felt that he had the power and influence of Leo Frank behind him to protect him, he never would have gone back to that factory or sat around and read newspapers. You know it, if you know anything about the character of the negro. Why was he so anxious to get the newspapers? It was because Jim knew some of the facts that he wanted to see, negro-like—that's what made him so anxious about

Here is the translated text as follows:328 X, AMERICAN STATE TRIALS."Time Tuesday!" "I couldn't tell you, I guess it was between eight and nine o'clock." The other one saw him somewhere between nine and eleven or eleven thirty. This lady, their witness, says that he was up there between eight and nine.Why was Frank so anxious to go up there on that floor? Why? It was because he wanted to see this man, Jim Conley, that he thought was going to protect him. Mr. Rosser characterized my suggestion that this man Frank called upon and expected Jim Conley to conceal

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 329The facts are too firmly and too deeply rooted. Oh, yes, says Mrs. Small, I saw Frank up there on that fourth floor between eight and nine o'clock Tuesday morning, and the other lady saw him up there between nine and eleven. She wouldn't be sure of the day he was arrested—I say arrested, according to Frank's own statement, they got him and just detained him, and even then, red-handed murderer as he was, his standing and influence, and the standing and influence of his attorney, somehow or other—and that's the

Here is the translated text as follows:8380 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS,Let not able counsel and the glamour that surrounds wealth and influence deter you. I honor the way they went after Minola McKnight. I don't know whether they want me to apologize for them or not, but if you think that finding the red-handed murderer of a little girl like this is a ladies' tea party, and that the detectives should have the manners of a dancing master and apologize and palaver, you don't know anything about the business. You have seen these dogs that hunt the 'possum bark up

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 331I am as proud of being elected to the position of Solicitor General by the people of this community as I am of anything else. However, I have never yet seen a man whom I would take as my model or pattern; I follow the dictates of my own conscience. If there is one act since I have been Solicitor General of which I am proud, it is the fact that I joined hand and glove with the detectives in the effort to seek the murderer of Mary Phagan. When your

Here is the translated text as follows:332 XY, ‘AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Q: "I checked the ticket and I went on with my work." So Frank was up there Tuesday morning."Now, speaking about Mrs. Carson, how far towards the elevator did Mrs. Carson go with Frank?"A: "Mrs. Carson wasn't up there, it was Miss Carson, Miss Rebecca." The old lady says she was; I said, "Oh, the old lady wasn't up there at all?" No, sir; she wasn't there Tuesday at all.""You saw Miss Rebecca Carson walking up towards the elevator?""Yes, sir.""What was Conley doing?""Standing there by the elevator." And yet Jim

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 333It was evident that many had seen the blood—that blood which at first wasn't blood but paint, and then wasn't paint but cat's blood or blood from someone who was injured, and then wasn't fresh blood but stale blood—too many had seen it. "On Wednesday, I had no business back there. I was there one day but can't remember." "What did you go back there for?" "A crowd of us went at noon to see if we could see any blood spots." "Were you successful?" "No, sir." "Who went with you?"

Here is the translated text as follows:334 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.There is no slush fund behind this case. Now, let's move on a little bit.They tried very hard to break down this man, Albert McKnight, with Minola—and I believe I'll leave that for a little later and come now to this statement of Frank's. Gentlemen, I wish I could travel faster over this. I'm doing the very best I can. I have a difficult task, and I wish I didn't have to do it at all.Now, gentlemen, I want to discuss briefly right here these letters. If these letters weren't

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO WM. FRANE, 335You say it's foolish, ridiculous, and a silly piece of business—a great folly. But murder will out, and Providence directs things in a mysterious way. Not only that, as Judge Bleckley says, "Crime, whenever committed, is a mistake in itself; and what kind of logic is it that will say that a man committed a crime, which is a great big mistake, and then in an effort to cover it up, won't make a smaller mistake?" There's no logic in that position. The man who commits a crime makes a mistake,

Here is the translated text as follows:336 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Exactly four times, as I'll show you when I come to read this statement by Leo M. Frank, for he chatted, and he chatted, and he chatted, and he chatted, according to his own statement. This letter that I hold in my hand says that this negro "did it." Old Jim Conley in his statement here, which I hold in my hand, every time he opened his mouth says "I done it." Old Jim Conley, if he had written these notes, never would have said "this negro did it by

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 337Jim says he looked at him like he thought, "I done it." It's the difference between ignorance and education, and these notes that you had that man prepare in your office on this paper that stayed on that floor and on that pad that came from your office, bear the marks of your diction. Starnes and Campbell, with all their ingenuity, couldn't have anticipated that old Jim would get up here and state that "this man looked at me when he ran into that baby, like I done it;" and couldn't

Here is the translated text as follows:338 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.I tell you, gentlemen of the jury, that a smarter man than Starnes, or a smarter man than Campbell, a smarter man than Black, a smarter man than Rosser, in the person of Leo M. Frank, felt impelled to put there these letters, which he thought would exculpate him, but which incriminate and damn him in the minds of every man seeking to get at the truth. Yet you tell me there's nothing in circumstantial evidence, when here's a pad and there's the pad and there's the notes, which you

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 339Let it be the doubt of a man who has conjured it up simply to acquit a friend, or a man that has been the friend of a friend; let it be the doubt of an honest, conscientious, upright juror, the noblest work of Almighty God.Now, gentlemen of the jury, I tell you that when this statement you heard Frank make is scanned, it is susceptible of but one construction, and that is, that it is the statement of a guilty man, made to fit in these general circumstances, as they

Here is the translated text as follows:340 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.The strength of the case does not rest upon this instance or that one, but upon all, taken together and bound together, which make a cable as strong as it is possible for the ingenuity of man to weave around anybody.Now, listen to this statement and let's analyze it as we go on a little. I don't know whether this man's statement to the jury will rank along with the cross-examination of that celebrated pervert, Oscar Wilde, or not, but it was a brilliant statement when unanalyzed. If you simply

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANE, 341He was willing to help this man take the body from the second floor, where the blood was found, into the basement and keep his mouth shut and protect him until the combined efforts of Scott and Black and Starnes and all these detectives beat him down and made him admit a little now and a little then. He wasn't willing, and he had too much sense, to go down into that basement to do that dirty job by himself and cremate the remains of this little girl that that man

Here is the translated text as follows:342 X, AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.This pretty, attractive little girl, twelve months, and a man of your brilliant parts didn't even know her, and do you tell me that you had made up the pay-roll with Schiff fifty-two times during the year that Mary Phagan was there and still you didn't know her name or number? You tell me that this little country boy who comes from Oak Grove, near Sandy Springs in the northern part of this county, was lying when he got on that stand? I'll tell you no. Do you tell me

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 343Has Conley lied? Has Dewey Hewell lied? Has Gantt lied? Has Miss Ruth Robinson lied? And even Frank, in his statement, admits that he knew Mary well enough to know that Gantt was familiar with her, because Chief Detective Harry Scott was told on Monday, April 28th, that this man Gantt was familiar with little Mary. And yet you expect an honest jury of twelve men—although out of your own mouth you told these detectives, whom you wired your uncle would eventually solve the problem, that this man Gantt was so

Here is the translated text as follows:344 X, AMERICAN STATE TRIALS,You stand in the way of the consummation of your diabolical and evil plans.You say that you and Schiff made up the payroll on Friday, and I wouldn't be at all surprised that, after little Mary had gone and while you and Schiff were making up the payroll on Friday afternoon, you saw little Mary's name and you knew that she hadn't been notified to come there and get her money at six o'clock on Friday afternoon. Then, as early as three o'clock—yes, as early as three—knowing that this little

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 345The issue at hand is torn down, and the person who refused to go into specific instances on cross-examination, if he didn't contemplate this little girl's ruin and damnation, it was because he was infatuated with her and didn't have the power to control that ungovernable passion. There's your plot; and it fits right in and seems tight up, and you can twist and turn and wobble as much as you want to, but out of your own mouth, when you told your detective, Scott, that this man Gantt was familiar

Here is the translated text as follows:346 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.He returned from the factory and said, "But I know there were several of them, and I went on chatting with Mr. Montag." I told you I was going to read this to you, and I just wanted you to know we were going to have this out with you. Another thing he said was, "I moved the papers I brought back from Montag's into the folder." Old Jim says he had the folder and put it away. "I would look and see how far along the reports were, which

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 347In another instance, he says, "I chatted with them." "Entering, I found quite a number of people, among them Darley," etc. "I chatted with them a few minutes,"—using the same words Jim said he used with reference to this girl: "Miss Hall left my office on her way home; there were in the building at the time, Arthur White and Harry Denham and Arthur White's wife, on the top floor; to the best of my knowledge, it must have been ten or fifteen minutes after Miss Hall left my office when

Here is the translated text as follows:348 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.While out of the building, he wanted to call Jim Conley, if Jim had seen, and his saying that he had seen would have given him away. Then it was that he wanted to get her out of the building, and he sent her upstairs and then went upstairs to get her out and pretended to be in a big hurry to get out. But according to her evidence, instead of going out, he didn't have on his coat and went back into his office and sat down at his

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 349Like you, I would have stormed the jail or done anything. It oughtn't to be, because that thing ought to be left to be threshed out before an upright court and an honest jury.But this man Frank knew—he didn't expect her to turn him down. He paved the way, he had set the snare, and he thought that this poor little girl would yield to his importunities. But, ah! thank God, she was made of that kind of stuff to which you are a stranger, and she resisted, she wouldn't yield.

Here is the translated text as follows:350 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.You are born, and that man is not like other men. He saw this girl, he coveted her; others without her stamina and her character had yielded to his lust, but she denied him. When she did, not being like other men, he struck her, he gagged her, he choked her. Then, able counsel go through the farce of showing that he had no marks on his person! Durant didn't have any marks on his person either. He didn't give her time to put marks on his person, but in

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 351Blood was spattered towards the dressing room; you know it was blood because Starnes says he saw it was blood and he saw that the haskoline had been put over it. I’m going to read you this man’s statement, too, unless I give out physically, about this haskoline. It’s the purest subterfuge that ever a man sought to palm off on an honest jury.Starnes tells you that he found more blood fifty feet nearer the elevator on a nail. Barrett—Christopher Columbus Barrett, if you will—discovered the hair that was identified, I

Here is the translated text as follows:352 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.In the dressing room at a time when no reward is shown to have been offered—and indeed, when you know that no reward was offered because no executive of this state or of this city offered any reward during Sunday or as early as 7 or 8 o'clock Monday morning—I say to you that this man Barrett stands as an oasis in a mighty desert, standing up for truth and right and telling it, though his own job is at stake, and you know it. And you may fling your

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 353A white substance was smeared over it. "It was not there Friday, I know," said Mel Stanford, "because I swept the floor Friday at that place. The white substance appeared to have been swept over with a coarse broom; we have such a broom, but the one used by me Friday in sweeping over that identical spot was of finer straw. The spots were dry, and the dark led right up here within five feet of where the smear was." Blood and haskoline.Jim Conley saw her go up and didn't see

Here is the translated text as follows:354 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.The witness did not go back on the affidavit which he had signed, though he did modify his statements.All right; I'm not going to call over all these other people—Mrs. Small and others—though Mrs. Carson denied it, she went there—who claimed to have seen that blood. But to cap it all, Mel Stanford says, "I swept the floor"—he's an employee and he's an honest man—"it wasn't there Friday." Why? Because old Jim, when he went to move that body, put it there Saturday. To cap it all, Doctor Claude Smith,

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 855Consider that scuttle hole. Don't you know that Frank would have rushed to get his detective, Scott, to put the police in charge of the information that blood had been found there? But long after Jim Conley had been arrested, after this man Holloway had arrested him, after Holloway had said that Jim was "his nigger," realizing the desperation of the situation and that something had to be forthcoming to bolster up the charge that Conley did it, then it was—and not until then—that this man McWorth, after he had gone

Here is the translated text as follows:356 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.After he killed that girl and changed his clothing, that old Newt didn’t have the time. Why did he say it then? Because he knew that Lanford and Black and the other detectives who were there would have examined that slip for themselves, then and there, and would have seen that these punches were regular or irregular. But he stood there, and because he knew he would be detected if he tried to palm off a fraud at that time and place, this man of keen perception, this man who

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 357It is evident that someone planted that shirt sometime on Monday, though we do not know at whose instance and suggestion.Regarding the club, both Doctor Harris and Doctor Hurt have stated that the wound could not have been inflicted with that club. Not a single doctor among the numerous good men and competent doctors has contradicted this. A physical examination of the shirt reveals that it was not worn by the person when the blood got on it—there is as much blood on the inside or the underside that did not

Here is the translated text as follows:358 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.I was about to have lunch when I got to my house, and Minola answered the phone. She responded that she would have lunch immediately and for me to come right away. I then gathered my papers together and went upstairs to see the boys on the top floor. This must have been around ten minutes to one, as I just looked at my watch. Mrs. White states that it was 12:35 when she passed by and saw me. That's possibly true; I have no recollection about it, but perhaps

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 359"They didn't keep it shut all the time," said Albert. "And you know he didn't eat anything in that dining room?""Yes, I know he didn't eat."And this is the tale that had been told to Craven by the husband of Minola McKnight. Minola went down there and, in the presence of her counsel, stated these things to these officers. She never would have done it if it hadn't been the truth. Gordon was down there, and he could have said—and if he hadn't said it then he's unworthy of the name

Here is the translated text as follows:360 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.I have enough to attend to my own business without running theirs. Now, go out there and bring in Julius Fisher, a photographer, and all these people to try to prove that the negro Albert McKnight lied. By the mere movement of that sideboard, which Mrs. Selig in her evidence says was put back in the exact same place every time they swept, you try to break down Albert McKnight's evidence. Gentlemen, Albert says that the sideboard had been moved, and you know it had been moved. Albert McKnight stood

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 361"You know you can’t see from the kitchen into the dining room, you know that, don’t you?" "Yes sir, you certainly can see;" and the very evidence of the photographs and Julius Fischer and others who came here, after that sideboard had been moved, sustains Albert McKnight, and shows that once that sideboard is adjusted, you could see, as Albert says, and he did see because he would have never told that tale unless he had been there and seen it. "You can see in there!" "Yes sir, you can see;

Here is the translated text as follows:362 X, AMERICAN STATE TRIALS."Whether it's fair or not,—that's a fair statement?" And Albert says, "I don't know whether it's fair or not, but I know I saw Leo M. Frank come in there some time between one and two o'clock on Saturday, April 26th, and I know he didn't stay but about ten minutes and left to go to town." And he tells you the way in which he left, and Frank in his statement says that, while he didn't get on that car, he went in such a direction as Albert McKnight

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 363You and I haven’t the physical strength, but there is certain language and certain statements and assertions made in this statement by this defendant which merit some consideration. This defendant stated to you, after His Honor had excluded our evidence and properly, I think, that his wife visited him at the police station. He says that she was there almost in hysterics, having been brought there by her father and two brothers-in-law and Rabbi Marx—no, Rabbi Marx was with me, I consulted with him as to the advisability of allowing my

Here is the translated text as follows:364. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Her husband would never have gone to him through snapshotters, reporters, and over the advice of any Rabbi under the sun. And you know it. Frank says in his statement, with reference to these notes written by Conley, "I said I know he can write." How long did it take him to say it, if he ever said it? "I received many notes from him asking me to loan him money. I have received too many notes from him not to know that he can write." In other words, Frank says

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 865You know why. Ah, you did know that Conley could write. You knew it, not only because he wrote the notes for you, through which you sought to place the responsibility for this crime on another man, but you knew it because he checked up the boxes of pencils, and he had written you numerous notes to get money from you, just like he borrowed money from those other people in that factory. You knew that the most powerful fact that could be brought to light showing who committed this dastardly

Here is the translated text as follows:866%. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.There never lived within the State of Georgia a lawyer with half the ability of Mr. Luther Rosser, who, possessing a consciousness of his client's innocence, wouldn't have said, "Let this ignorant negro confront my innocent client." If there be a negro who accuses me of a crime of which I am innocent, I tell you—and you know it's true—I'm going to confront him, even before my attorney, no matter who he is, returns from Tallulah Falls. And if not then, I tell you just as soon as that attorney does

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO H. FRANK. 867**The Court:** I know; go on.**Mr. Dorsey:** They see the force of it.**Mr. Rosser:** Is that a fair comment, Your Honor, if I make a reasonable objection, to say that we see the force of it?**The Court:** I don’t think that, in reply to your objection, is a fair statement.**Mr. Dorsey:** Now, may it please Your Honor, if they don't see the force of it, you do—**Mr. Rosser:** I want to know, is Your Honor’s ruling to be absolutely disregarded like that?**The Court:** Mr. Dorsey, stay inside of the record, and

Here is the translated text as follows:368 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.If you were innocent of murder, could any lawyer, Rosser or anybody else, keep you from confronting the accuser and nailing the lie? No lawyer on earth, no lawyer that ever lived in any age or any clime could prevent me, if I were innocent, from confronting a man who accused me wrongfully, be he white or black.And you, Leo Frank, went in and interviewed Newt Lee down yonder at twelve o'clock, Tuesday night, April 29th. And what did you do? Did you act like a man who wanted to

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO H. FRANK. 360Newt Lee had been there for only two or three weeks—three weeks, to be precise. Frank could have told you that the detectives emphasized the fact that couples frequented the place on holidays, Saturdays, and at night, at all times and whenever other night watchmen were present. However, with Newt Lee having been there for just three weeks, he effectively prevents the State from impeaching or contradicting his statement. Therefore, he informs you that the detectives stressed the fact that couples had been there while the night watchman, Newt Lee, was

Here is the translated text as follows:370 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS."Now, first, contrast that statement for a moment with this statement with reference to the condition of the floor where Barrett worked. There he says there wasn't a spot, much less a blood spot—'looked at the machinery and the lathe, looked at the table on which the lathe stands and the lathe bed and the floor underneath the lathe and there wasn't a spot, much less a blood spot underneath.' All right; you say that that wasn't blood, you say that that haskoline wouldn't turn that color. In the name

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO U. FRANK, 871Can you justify yourselves on that point, as against the evidence of all these witnesses who have told you that that was blood, and against the evidence of Doctor Claude Smith, the City Bacteriologist of the City of Atlanta, who tells you that through a chemical analysis he developed the fact that that was blood?This defense, gentlemen—they have got no defense. They have never come into close contact in this case, except on the proposition of abuse and vilification. They circle and flutter but never light; they grab at varnish and

Here is the translated text as follows:372 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Even if he had been such a fool and so unlike the other members of his race, by whom brutal murders have been committed, he should have taken time to tie a cord around her neck. A cord seldom found down there in the basement, according to your own statement, except when it's swept down in the trash, but a cord that hangs right up there on the office floor, both back there in the varnish room and up there in the front. If he had done all that—a thing

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 373According to his own statement, Lemmie Quinn had to come and ask him to go back to see the blood spots on the second floor, found by this man Barrett. Is that the conduct of a man, the head of a pencil factory, who had employed detectives and was anxious to assist the police? He saw it in the newspapers, and yet Lemmie Quinn had to go and ask him to go back? And then he tells you in this statement, which is easy to write and glibly rattled off—a statement

Here is the translated text as follows:374 X¥. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Mr. Dorsey: Rogers said he never did look at that body.Mr. Arnold: I insist that isn’t the evidence. Rogers said he didn't know and couldn't answer whether he saw it or not, and Black said the same thing.I’m not going to quibble with you. The truth is, and you know it, that when that man Frank went down there to look at that body of that poor girl, to identify her, he never went into that room. And if he did look at her long enough to identify her, neither

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 375Leo M. Frank's nervousness can be attributed to the circumstances surrounding the case, yet he returned, like a dog to its vomit or a sow to its wallow, to view the remains of this poor, innocent girl. I ask you, gentlemen of the jury, if you don't know that the reason Leo M. Frank went to the morgue on Sunday afternoon was to see if he could detect anything in the atmosphere indicating that the police suspected him? He admits his nervousness, and he admits being nervous in the presence of

Here is the translated text as follows:376 X¥. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.The electricity might innocently electrocute some members of the fire department in case of a fire. I ask you, gentlemen of the jury, what was the necessity for leaving the box open when a simple turn of the lever would have shut off the electricity and enabled the key to have been hung up in the office, just exactly like old Holloway swore when he didn’t know the importance of the proposition? In the affidavit which I have and which was submitted in evidence to you, it states that the

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 377**Mr. Rosser:** He doesn’t claim that. He says the point is it was easily gotten in the office, but that’s not what he said.**The Court:** You claim that’s a deduction you are drawing?**Mr. Dorsey:** Why, sure.**The Court:** Now, you don’t claim the evidence shows that?**Mr. Dorsey:** I claim that the power box was standing open Sunday morning.**The Court:** Do you insist that the evidence shows he had it in his pocket?**Mr. Dorsey:** I say that’s my recollection, but I’m willing to waive it; but let them go to the record, and

Here is the translated text as follows:378 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.In his statement, the defendant says, "though I didn't look at her and couldn't have recognized her if she was in the dirty, distorted condition," yet he claims, "but I know it was Mary Phagan."He corroborates the detectives' statements, saying that at the undertaking establishment, "we went down a long, dark passageway with Mr. Rogers following, then I came and Black brought up the rear. Gheesling was on the opposite side of the little cooling table, the table between him and me; he took the head in his hands, put

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 370When the incident occurred, the first question asked was not, "Has there been a fire?" but "Has there been a tragedy?" Starnes, the man who initially suspected Newt Lee, the negro night watchman, because he pointed his finger of suspicion at him, and who later went after Gantt because this defendant pointed the finger of suspicion at him, is a perjurer and a liar. Starnes, who has been a detective on the police force for many years, did this simply to gratify his ambition and place a noose around the neck

Here is the translated text as follows:880 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Had he been up there, he innocently called Newt to find out, he said, if Gantt had gone and Newt said to find out if everything was all right at the factory; and you know that the reason he called up was to find out if Newt, in making his rounds, had discovered the body of this dead girl."Would you convict him on this circumstance or that circumstance?" No. But I would weave them all together, and I would make a rope, no one strand of which is sufficiently strong

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 381This man Frank had stepped out of his office to answer a call of nature. He would have remembered it, and if he wouldn't have remembered it, at least he wouldn't have stated so repeatedly and unqualifiedly that he never left his office. Only on the stand here, when he faces an honest jury, charged with the murder, and circumstances stacked up against him, does he offer the flimsy excuse that these are things that people do unconsciously and without any recollection.But this man Scott, in company with Black, after they

Here is the translated text as follows:382 &X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS,"You were in your office," and Frank said "yes." And not until he saw the wonderful capacity, the wonderful ability, the wonderful devotion of this man Scott to the truth and right did he ever shut him out from his counsel. No suggestion then that he might have had to answer a call of nature, but emphatically, without knowing the importance, he told his own detective, in the presence of John Black, that at no time, for no purpose, from a few minutes before this unfortunate girl arrived, until he

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK. 383A man named Mr. Kelley, who rode on the same car with Hollis, the same car that Hollis claims or Matthews claims that he rode on, knew the girl, knew Matthews, and tells you—and he's unimpeached and unimpeachable, and there's no suggestion here, even if you set the evidence of Epps and McCoy and Kendley aside—upon which an honest jury can predicate a doubt that this man Kelley of the streetcar company didn't tell the truth when he says that she wasn't on that car that this man Matthews says she

Here is the translated text as follows:334 - X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Mr. Arnold: I move to exclude that as grossly improper. He says he is arguing that some physician was brought here because he was the physician of some member of the jury. It's grossly unfair and it's grossly improper and insulting, even, to the jury.Mr. Dorsey: I say it is eminently proper and absolutely a legitimate argument.Mr. Arnold: I just record my objection, and if Your Honor lets it stay in, you can do it.Mr. Dorsey: Yes, sir; that wouldn't scare me, Your Honor.The Court: Well, I want to

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO, M. FRANK. 885Do we know anything about the action of gastric juices on foods in the stomach? Can this man, with his short experience of seven years, this gentleman, splendid though he is, from Michigan, put his opinion against the eminent Secretary of the Georgia Board of Health, Doctor Roy Harris? I tell you, no.Now, let's briefly review this nervousness proposition. The man displayed nervousness when he talked to old man John Starnes. When Black went out to his house and he sent his wife down to give him nerve, although he was

Here is the translated text as follows:386 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.The situation was that he dared not say, because he couldn’t then say, that he saw that man also sweeping them out. Then it was that he said, "All right, Newt, go up with him and let him get them," and lo and behold, the shoes that this man Frank would have him believe were swept out, both tan and black, were there. Gantt tells you how he acted; Newt tells you how he jumped. Rogers and Black, honest men, when they went out there after Mr. Starnes had talked

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 387The language used was "Completely unstrung," and now he changed it in your presence to "almost completely unstrung."You tell me that this man, who called for breakfast at home as Durant called for bromo seltzer in San Francisco, and who called for coffee at the factory as Durant called for bromo seltzer in San Francisco, you tell me that this man Frank, the defendant in this case, explains his nervousness by reason of the automobile ride and the view of the body—as this man Durant in San Francisco tried to explain

Here is the translated text as follows:388 XY. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Man Scott, one of the most material witnesses, although the detective of this defendant's company, might also throw me down. Scott says this man Frank, when he went there Monday afternoon, after he had anxiously phoned Schiff to see old man Sig Montag and get Sig Montag's permission—had phoned him three times—Scott says that he squirmed in his chair continually, crossed and uncrossed his legs, rubbed his face with his hand, sighed, twisted and drew long deep breaths. After going to the station Tuesday morning, just before his arrest—if he

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO H. FRANK. 389The death of Christ on the Cross, as it is said, when He suffered that agony, He said to the thief, "This day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise;" and unless our religion is a fraud and a farce, if it teaches anything, it is that man, though he may be a thief, may be rehabilitated, and enjoy a good character and the confidence of the people among whom he lives.And this man Dalton, according to the unimpeached testimony of these people who have known him in DeKalb and Fulton

Here is the translated text as follows:390 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.To impeach this man, Dalton, you could have found it out. And I submit that the man that did it, whoever he was, the man who had the charity in his heart to dress that negro up—the negro that you would dress in a shroud and send to his grave—the man that did that, to bring him into the presence of this Court deserves not the condemnation, but the thanks of this jury.Let's see what Mr. William Smith, a man employed to defend this negro Conley, set up in response

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 391During the night, Jim Conley was offered sandwiches and whiskey and his life was threatened—things that the sheriff, who is as good as the chief of police but no better, couldn’t guard against because of the physical structure of the jail. Conley asked, and His Honor granted the request, that he be remanded back into the custody of the honorable men who manage the police department of the City of Atlanta.Mr. Rosser: No, that’s a mistake, that isn’t correct. Your Honor discharged him from custody—he said that under that petition Your

Here is the translated text as follows:392 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.If Frank had been a member of the police force of the City of Atlanta, he would have been a liberated man when he stepped into this Court to swear, or he would have been spirited out of the State of Georgia so his damaging evidence couldn't have been adduced against this man.But yet you say Conley is impeached? You went thoroughly into this man Conley's previous life. You found out every person for whom he had worked, and yet this lousy, disreputable negro is unimpeached by any man except

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 393When these girls were reclining and lounging after finishing their piece work, and the sardonic grin that lit his countenance is described, it sustains Jim Conley. Miss Kitchens, the lady from the fourth floor, whom Mr. Arnold repeatedly asserted you didn't produce, and her account of this man's conduct when he came in on these girls, whom he should have protected, and when he should have been the last man to go into that room, sustains Jim Conley. Miss Jackson's assertion that she heard of three or four other instances and

Here is the translated text as follows:394 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Jim Conley's testimony is supported by multiple pieces of evidence. Daisy Hopkins' notorious reputation and Jim's statement that he had seen her enter the factory with Dalton and descend the scuttle hole to the location where the cot was found, corroborate Jim Conley's account. The blood on the second floor, testified to by numerous witnesses, further supports Jim Conley's narrative. The appearance of the blood and the physical condition of the floor when it was discovered on Monday morning also sustain Jim Conley's testimony.Additionally, the testimony of Holloway, given in

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 395**Mr. Rosser:** He says time and time again, "I disremember whether I did or not"; he says "I did it," page after page, sometimes three times on a page. I've got the record, too. Of course, if the Almighty God was to say it, you would deny it.**Mr. Dorsey:** Who reported it?**Mr. Rosser:** Pages 496, (Mr. Rosser here read a list of page numbers containing the statement referred to.)**Mr. Arnold:** I want to read the first one before he caught himself, on page 946. I want to read the statement—**Mr. Dorsey:**

Here is the translated text as follows:896 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.It is worth noting that there are other instances you might pick showing that he used the word "I done," and they know it. All right, leave the language, take the context.These notes say, as I suggested the other day, that she was assaulted as she went to make water. The only closet known to Mary, and the only one that she would ever have used, is the closet on the office floor, where Conley says he found the body. Her body was found right on the route that Frank

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 397Despite the fact that you say you kept a book for express and kerosene and every other conceivable purpose for which money was appropriated, you fail and refuse, because you can't, to produce the signature of White, or the entry in any book made by Frank showing that this man White ever got that money, except the entry made by this man Schiff some time during the week thereafter.I tell you, gentlemen of the jury, that the reason Frank didn't enter up, or didn't take the receipt from White about the

Here is the translated text as follows:398 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Gentlemen, every word of that defendant proclaims him responsible for the death of this little factory girl. Gentlemen, every circumstance in this case proves him guilty of this crime. Extraordinary! Yes, but nevertheless true, just as true as Mary Phagan is dead. She died a noble death, not a blot on her name. She died because she wouldn’t yield her virtue to the demands of her superintendent. I have no purpose and have never had from the beginning in this case that you oughtn’t to have, as an honest, upright

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 399On South Pryor Street, a large crowd cheered the solicitor, crying, "Hurrah for Dorsey."First, on Saturday, August 23, 1913, when the jury was only 100 feet away from the courthouse, in the German cafe, a crowd in front of the courthouse loudly cheered the solicitor as he came out. Afterward, a portion of the crowd moved up in front of the cafe and repeated their cheers.Second, on the last day of the trial, namely Monday, a large crowd of women had assembled in the courtroom and taken their seats before court

Here is the translated text as follows:400X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALSAfter they went inside the cafe, I did not hear any more cheers or applause.Cross-examined: The crowd was in front of the courthouse; I could not hear the words they said, but only the noises and the thunderclaps. No one came inside the cafe after the jury entered; I heard nothing on the outside after they went in. I do not know whether Solicitor Dorsey was in the courthouse or outside of the courthouse when the cheering commenced.Mr. Arnold: As Mr. Dorsey left the courtroom Friday afternoon, I heard loud cheering

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 401On the 27th day of April of this year, with force and arms, Leo M. Frank did unlawfully and with malice aforethought kill and murder one Mary Phagan by then and there choking her, the said Mary Phagan, with a cord placed around her neck.To this charge made by the bill of indictment found by the Grand Jury of this county recently empaneled, Leo M. Frank, the defendant, files a plea of not guilty. The charge as made by the bill of indictment on the one hand and his plea of

Here is the translated text as follows:402 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Express malice is that deliberate intention unlawfully to take away the life of a fellow-creature, which is manifested by external circumstances capable of proof.Malice shall be implied where no considerable provocation appears, and where all of the circumstances of the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart.There is no difference between express and implied malice except in the mode of arriving at the fact of its existence. The legal sense of the term "malice" is not confined to particular animosity to the deceased, but extends to an evil design in

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 408Gentlemen, the object of all legal investigation is the discovery of truth. That is the reason you have been selected, empaneled, and sworn in this case—to discover what is the truth on this issue formed on this bill of indictment. Is Leo M. Frank guilty? Are you satisfied of that beyond a reasonable doubt from the evidence in this case? Or is his plea of not guilty the truth?The rules of evidence are framed with a view to this prominent end—seeking always for pure sources and the highest evidence. Direct evidence

Here is the translated text as follows:404 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.The jury may consider the good character of the defendant, whether the rest of the testimony leaves the question of his guilt doubtful or not. If a consideration of the proof of his good character, considered along with the evidence, creates a reasonable doubt in the minds of the jury as to the defendant's guilt, then it would be the duty of the jury to give the defendant the benefit of the doubt thus raised by his good character, and to acquit him.The term "character" as used in this context,

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 405When a man's character is put in evidence, and in the course of the investigation any specific act of misconduct is shown, this does not go before the jury for the purpose of showing affirmatively that his character is bad or that he is guilty of the offense with which he stands charged. Instead, it is to be considered by the jury only in determining the credibility and the degree of information possessed by those witnesses who have testified to his good character.When the defendant has put his character in issue,

Here is the translated text as follows:406 XY. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.If you believe from the evidence as a whole that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, you would be authorized to convict him.If you believe beyond a reasonable doubt from the evidence in this case that this defendant is guilty of murder, then you would be authorized in that event to say, "We, the jury, find the defendant guilty." Should you go no further, gentlemen, and say nothing else in your verdict, the Court would have to sentence the defendant to the extreme penalty for murder, to wit:

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 407THE VERDICT AND SENTENCEAt 4:55, the jury returned to the court with a verdict of guilty. The courtroom had been cleared of spectators; the prisoner himself, as well as his counsel, were absent (see post, p. 410). Only the judge, the officers of the court, the state counsel, and some other members of the bar were present. When the verdict was rendered, the windows of the courtroom were closed due to the noise made by the crowd in the streets.While the jury was out for nearly four hours, and each and

Here is the translated text as follows:408 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.**Judge Roan:** Mr. Sheriff, I will pass sentence tomorrow. Have the prisoner here. I will notify you in time of the hour. Gentlemen of the jury, I thank you for your patient service in this case. This has been the longest trial I have ever participated in, and I dare say the longest you ever have or ever will. Thanking you again for your long and faithful service and arduous labors, the Court will now dismiss you. The state will furnish your script for twenty-nine days.August 26.**Judge Roan:** Mr. Frank,

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 409The trial will be filed in due order, and it will be duly heard. It is now my duty to pronounce the formal sentence of the law upon you, which I will read in open court. Indictment for murder, Fulton Superior Court, May term, 1913. Verdict of guilty, July term, 1913. Whereupon, it is considered, ordered, and adjudged by the court that the defendant, Leo M. Frank, be taken from the bar of this court to the common jail of the county of Fulton, and that he be there safely kept

Here is the translated text as follows:410 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.THE SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF THE CASE—THE APPEALS TO THE COURTS—THE COMMUTATION BY THE GOVERNOR—THE LYNCHING OF THE PRISONER.On October 31, 1913, Judge Roan denied the motion for a new trial. On February 17, 1914, the Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the verdict of the lower court by a vote of four to two, and on February 25, unanimously overruled a motion for rehearing. On March 7, Frank was sentenced for a second time, with April 17 set as the date for the execution. On April 16, an extraordinary motion for

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 41On October 18, a writ of error was refused. On November 23, Mr. Justice Lamar of the Supreme Court of the United States refused a writ of error. On November 25, Mr. Justice Holmes of the United States Supreme Court also refused a writ. On December 7, the full bench of the United States Supreme Court refused a writ of error. On December 9, Frank was re-sentenced.Frank stated that he was not present when the verdict was rendered and the jury discharged. He did not know of any waiver of his

Here is the translated text as follows:412 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Leo Frank was sentenced to hang on January 22, 1915. On December 21, United States District Judge W. T. Newman of Georgia refused a writ of habeas corpus. On December 28, 1914, Mr. Justice Lamar granted an appeal and certificate of reasonable doubt to the United States Supreme Court. On April 19, 1915, the Supreme Court of the United States, with Mr. Justices Holmes and Hughes dissenting, dismissed the appeal. On May 31, Frank's plea for commutation of sentence to life imprisonment was heard before the State Prison Commission. On

Here is the translated text as follows:LEO M. FRANK, 1915At daybreak on August 17th, two miles northeast of Marietta, in Cobb County, Georgia, Leo M. Frank was lynched by a mob. Mary Phagan's body was buried in the cemetery of this town. A number of men in automobiles arrived at the State Prison farm where Frank was serving his commuted life sentence, after dark on the evening of August 16th. These men cut the telephone wires, overpowered the guards, entered the hall where Frank was sleeping, carried him into one of the automobiles, and made the journey during the night

Here is the translated text as follows:414 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.The body was cut down and carried to Atlanta, and from there sent to Brooklyn where his parents lived."Whoever did this thing—" The man beside the body broke in with a shout: "God bless him, whoever he was." Judge Morris laid his hand on the man's shoulder and asked him to be quiet for a few minutes. "Whoever did this thing did a thorough job." "They sure did," chorused the crowd. "Whoever did this thing," said Judge Morris, "left nothing more for us to do. Little Mary Phagan is vindicated.

Here is the translated text as follows:THE TRIAL OF WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHER BRITISH SOLDIERS FOR THE MURDER OF CRISPUS ATTUCKS, SAMUEL GRAY, SAMUEL MAVERICK, JAMES CALDWELL, AND PATRICK CARR, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, 1770.THE NARRATIVEOn the evening of March 5th, 1770, a party of British soldiers fired upon a crowd of citizens of Boston, causing the death of five of them. This incident is known in American history as the "Boston Massacre," and it grew out of the strong feeling among the Colonists against having soldiers quartered upon them.There had been much friction between soldiers and civilians in Boston. A

Here is the translated text as follows:416 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.A man in a red cloak and white wig rushed to King Street, now State Street, after hearing the alarm. Meanwhile, the sentry before the custom house in that street was attacked while on duty. He loaded his gun and retreated up the steps, but the people pressed upon him with bitter imprecations. He called on the main guard, within hearing, for protection. Captain Preston, the officer of the day, sent a corporal and six men to protect the sentinel and followed them himself. The mob had now received a

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSIt was revealed that the soldiers had been involved in a confrontation with the people at the Rope Walk a few days before. It was also shown that Killroy's bayonet was bloody the next morning after the affray. A witness swore that Montgomery was the first one that fired, that when his gun was knocked out of his hand, he recovered it and fired again, and that he was the one who killed Attucks.A large number of witnesses testified to the origin of the affair and attributed the blame to

Here is the translated text as follows:418 Z. AMERICAN STATE TRIALSThe soldiers received the same treatment, but there was no direct evidence that they were ordered to fire by their commanders, although they were frequently dared to do so by their assailants. They were called cowards, dastards, lobsters (in reference to the color of their coats), bloody backs (in allusion to the custom of flogging in the army), and every conceivable insult was thrown at them by the excited crowd that surrounded them.The most effective speeches to the jury were made by Mr. Adams and Mr. Quincy, and the verdict

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSWilliam Wemms and Hugh Montgomery, British soldiers of the 29th Regiment of Foot, were placed at the bar today charged with the murder of five citizens of Boston, namely: Crispus Attucks, Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell, and Patrick Carr. They pleaded not guilty.The trial was documented in a publication titled "A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston, Perpetrated in the Evening of the Fifth Day of March, 1770, by Soldiers of the 29th Regiment, Which with the 14th Regiment Were Then Quartered There: With Some Observations on

Here is the translated text as follows:420 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.The following jurors were selected: Joseph Mayo, foreman, and Nathaniel Davis, of Roxbury; Abraham Wheeler and Edward Peirce, of Dorchester; Josiah Thayer, of Braintree; Benjamin Fisher, of Dedham; Samuel Davenport and Joseph Haughton, of Milton.It is alleged that William Warren, feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, did shoot off and discharge at and against the said Crispus Attucks, and that the said William Warren, with the leaden bullets as aforesaid, out of the said hand gun, then and there by force of the said gunpowder so shot off and

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSThe jury consisted of the following individuals: Joseph Mayo, of Roxbury; Abraham Wheeler, of Concord; Isaac Pierce, of Woburn; William Veazie, of Braintree; Edward Savel, of Woburn; Jonathan Williams, of Brookline; Samuel Davenport, of Milton; Consider Atherton, of Stoughton; Jacob Cushing, Jr., Josiah Lane, and Jonathan Burr, of Hingham.The Clerk addressed the court: "You, the prisoners at the bar, these good men who were last called and now appear, are those who are to pass between our sovereign Lord the King and you, upon the trial of your several lives.

Here is the translated text as follows:422 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Mr. Samuel Quincy. May it please your Honors and you gentlemen of the jury: The prisoners at the bar are that party of soldiers belonging to His Majesty’s 29th regiment, who in the evening of the 5th of March last, were induced from some cause or other to fire on the inhabitants of this town in King Street. They are charged in five distinct indictments with the willful, premeditated murder of five different persons mentioned in the respective bills. To each of these indictments, they have severally pleaded not guilty,

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEUMS AND SEVEN OTHERS. 493It is yours, gentlemen of the jury, to determine whether they are guilty or not.The cause is solemn and important; no less than whether eight of your fellow subjects shall live or die! A cause grounded on the most melancholy event that has yet taken place on the continent of America, and perhaps of the greatest expectation of any that has yet come before a tribunal of civil justice, in this part of the British dominions.I am aware how difficult, in cases of this sort, it ever is, and

Here is the translated text as follows:424X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.THE WITNESSES FOR THE PROSECUTION**Jonathan W. Austin** was on King Street that evening. As the soldiers wheeled around, McCauley pushed at me with his bayonet and said, "Damn you, stand off." Then I heard several shots; I saw McCauley after the fire, reloading.**Ebenezer Bridgham** was also in King Street. The next morning at the gaol, I thought I had seen Warren in King Street the evening before, but afterwards I saw a person that looked very like him belonging to the same regiment, which caused me to doubt. I also saw

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSJames BrewerI saw Killroy on the custom house steps. Killroy pushed me with his bayonet. I heard several guns fired.James BaileyI saw Montgomery, Carroll, and White there. I saw Montgomery fire first. I think Montgomery killed Attucks. Attucks was about fifteen feet from him over the gutter. I did not apprehend myself or the soldiers in danger from clubs, sticks, snowballs, or anything else. I saw a person strike Montgomery at the corner of Royal Exchange Lane. Attucks was not the person.Richard PalmesHearing a disturbance in King Street, I was

Here is the translated text as follows:426XE. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Different men pierced me in the arm and elbow quite to the bone.**Samuel Hemmingway.** Being in company with Killroy, I heard him say he never would miss an opportunity to fire on the people of the town, for he had wanted it ever since he landed. Killroy was not then in liquor nor appeared to be in anger. I told him he was a fool for saying so; he said, "I do not care; I will not miss an opportunity for all that."**Nicholas Ferveter.** I knew Killroy and Warren; they were

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSAfter the shots were fired, the crowd began to scatter. Once the firing ceased, a little boy came and told us that some people were killed; I saw them lying in the street. I did not imagine anyone was killed but supposed that they had been scared and run away, leaving their great coats behind them. I saw nothing like an attack that could produce such consequences. I went to look at the mulatto man and heard a noise like the cocking of firelocks, but an officer passed before them

Here is the translated text as follows:428X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS."It was nine o'clock, and I did not think anything else until somebody cried fire." "Did you strike before the firing?" "Yes." "Did you strike as hard as you could?" "Yes, and hit the lock of his gun, and if I had struck a little lower, I should have left a mark that I could have sworn to." "Was the sword in your hand drawn?" "I drew it when the soldier pushed at me, and struck at him as I have mentioned." "How many soldiers were there?" "I did not count

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSI was waiting at the door for a minute or two; people were coming down in twos and threes at a time. At length, the noise subsided, and it seemed to be calming down by their hands, but I apprehended no danger from them. I stood on the step of the door; they appeared to be pushing right down towards us, and I began to apprehend danger. They said something, I do not know what it was, but I went inside as fast as I could and shut the door

Here is the translated text as follows:430AMERICAN STATE TRIALSI was in my house when I heard the cry of fire, and people began to gather, as they do at the sound of fire. I thought it was a fire, so I came to the door and saw them gathering thickly from all quarters—forty, fifty, or sixty people. When the party came down, I thought it was no more than what I had seen every day; I thought they had come to relieve the sentry. They seemed to be in a posture of defense and came through the people. I saw

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSThe bell rang, as we all thought, for a mission for peace; they fired, he ran out in order to go, with no regard to me or my orders. I went to it, but encountered an old man who was coming by, before my face, and some of them struck at me, but did not hit me; I do not know that any of the soldiers were among them.John Hill, Esq., saw a party of soldiers near the Rope Walks with clubs; he ordered them to disperse. He commanded the

Here is the translated text as follows:432 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS,The motives of the accused persons may not be precisely ascertained, except in the case of Killroy, against whom I think you have certain evidence.It is a rule of law, gentlemen, that when the fact of killing is once proved, every circumstance alleviating, excusing, or justifying, in order to extenuate the crime, must be proved by the prisoners, for the law presumes the fact malicious until the contrary appears in evidence.There is another rule I shall mention also, and that is, that it is immaterial where there are a number

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSThe defendants are charged with the murder of several of the king's liege subjects, as set forth in the indictments that have been read to you. According to these indictments, the persons slain were "being in the peace of God, and our lord the king" at the time they received their mortal wounds.The prisoners have each pleaded not guilty and have put themselves on trial before God and their country, which you represent. By their pleas, they will stand or fall according to the evidence that applies to each of

Here is the translated text as follows:484 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALSThirdly, is there anything appearing in evidence that will justify, excuse, or extenuate such homicide by reducing it to that species of offense called manslaughter?Before we enter upon these inquiries, permit me, gentlemen, to remind you of the importance of this trial as it relates to the prisoners. It is for their lives! If we consider the number of persons now on trial, joined with many other circumstances which might be mentioned, it is by far the most important trial this country has ever seen. Remember the ties you are

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSWhat is at first irksome soon becomes pleasing. But does experience teach that misery begets in general a hatred of life? By no means. We all recoil at death; we long for one short space more; we grasp with anxious solicitude even after a wretched existence. God and nature have implanted this love of life. Expel, therefore, from your breasts an opinion so unwarranted by any law, human or divine. Let not anything so injurious to the prisoners, who value life as much as you do, and let not anything

Here is the translated text as follows:436 X, AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.About five or six years ago, it is well known, certain measures were adopted by the British parliament, which gave a general alarm to this continent. Measures were alternately taken in Great Britain that awakened jealousy, resentment, fortitude, and vigilance. Affairs continued long fluctuating. A sentiment universally prevailed that our dearest rights were invaded. It is not our business here to inquire touching these delicate points. These are concernments, which, however interesting or important in themselves, we must keep far away from us when in a court of law. It

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERS, 437Today, gentlemen, I appeal to you for the truth of what I say: many on this continent viewed their chains as already forged. They saw fetters as prepared; they beheld the soldiers as fastening and riveting, for ages, the shackles of their bondage. With the justness of these apprehensions, you and I have nothing to do in this place. Disquisitions of this sort are for the senate and the chamber of council; they are for statesmen and politicians, who take a latitude in thoughts and action. But we, gentlemen,

Here is the translated text as follows:438 X, AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.His heart glowed with an ardor, which he took for a love of liberty and his country, and he had formed no design fatal to its privileges. He recollected, no doubt, that he had heretofore exposed himself for its service. He had bared his bosom in defense of his native soil and still felt the smart of wounds received in conflict for his king and country. Could that spirit, which had braved the shafts of foreign battle, brook the keener wounds of civil contest? The arrows which now pierced him

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSWe must stop. If we pursue this inquiry at this time and in this place, we shall be in danger of doing great injustice. We shall get beyond our limits. The right of quartering troops in this province must be discussed at a different tribunal. The constitutional legality, the propriety, the expediency of their appointment are questions of state, not to be determined or even agitated by us in this court. It is enough for us if the law takes notice of them when thus stationed, if it warrants their

Here is the translated text as follows:440 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Was it his duty to espouse the cause of those assembled in King Street? I think not; but lest my opinion should not have any weight, let me remind you of an author, who, I could wish, were in the hands of all of you; one whom I trust you will credit, I am sure you ought to love and revere him. I wish his sentiments were engraven in indelible characters on your hearts. You will not suspect him of being unfriendly to liberty; if this cause and its events

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSHow can we regard with contempt a body of men stationed, most certainly, by the consent of her supreme legislature, the Parliament of Britain? What could be more disrespectful to our common sovereign than to assume the sword of justice and become the avengers of either public or private wrongs? Though the soldiers who appeared in the earlier part of the evening in Cornhill acted like barbarians and savages, they had now retired and were confined in their barracks. What though an impertinent boy had received unjustifiable correction from the

Here is the translated text as follows:442, & AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Justice. We ought to recollect that our present decisions will be scanned, perhaps throughout all Europe. We must not forget that we ourselves will have a reflective hour—an hour in which we shall view things through a different medium—when the pulse will no longer beat with the tumults of the day—when the conscious pang of having betrayed truth, justice, and integrity shall bite like a serpent and sting like an adder.Consider, gentlemen, the danger which you, and all of us, are in of being led away by our affections and

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERS. 443In the fervor of our zeal, reason is in hazard of being lost; for, as was elegantly expressed by a learned gentleman at the late trial, "the passions of man, nay, his very imaginations, are contagious." The pomp of funeral and the horrors of death have been so delineated as to give a spring to our ideas and inspire a glow incompatible with sound deliberative judgment. In this situation, every passion has been alternately predominant. They have each in its turn subsided in degree, and then have sometimes given

Here is the translated text as follows:444 VOL. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.In this respect, what success will follow those endeavors depends on you, gentlemen. If being told of your danger will not produce caution, nothing will. If you are determined in your opinion, it is vain to say more; but if you are zealous inquirers after truth, if you are willing to hear with impartiality, to examine and judge for yourselves, enough has been said to apprise you of these avenues at which the enemies of truth and justice are most likely to enter and most easily to beset you.Gentlemen of

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSWe have no more concern than either of you, gentlemen. I say, passing over all these matters as foreign to this trial, let us state the evidence appearing even from the crown witnesses.Mr. Quincy then took up the evidence against the prisoners, pointing out the circumstances which favored them. He then stated the points he expected to exhibit on the part of the prisoners, to show that all which they did was necessary and proper in self-defense.THE WITNESSES FOR THE PRISONERS**James Crawford:** On the night of March 5th, while going

Here is the translated text as follows:448X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.A group of people armed with white sticks made several attacks on the barracks but were always driven back. Each time a fresh party arrived from the north part of the town, they launched a new attack. There were about five or six different attacks in total. I saw a large man wearing a red cloak and a white wig; the crowd gathered around him, and he spoke for two or three minutes. They then gave several different cheers for the Main Guard and declared they would "do for the soldiers."Archibald

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSOn the evening of March 5th, I observed a group of people with sticks and clubs. They mentioned there was no fire, but rather a disturbance involving soldiers and inhabitants. I returned to the room occasionally, but feeling uneasy, I went back to the door and saw several groups of people pass by. One group, consisting of eight or ten individuals, carried white sticks or clubs in their hands.Captain John Goldfinch recounted that on the evening of March 8th, around nine o'clock, he was passing over Cornhill when he saw

Here is the translated text as follows:448X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.I saw them throwing oyster shells and snowballs at the sentry at the Custom House door; he was on the steps. Some were shouting, "Let us burn the sentry box, let us heave it overboard," but they did not.**John Ruddock, Esq.** As I went home, I met a number of boys with clubs; they had been doing so for several months before. They chose to do so because they had been so often knocked down by the soldiers. Some said the soldiers were going to fight with the people.**Newton Prince.** When

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERS. 449There came a little man who said, "Why do you not keep your soldiers in their barracks?" They said they had done everything they possibly could, and would do everything in their power to keep them in their barracks. On which he said, "Are the inhabitants to be knocked down in the streets, are they to be murdered in this manner?" The officers still insisted they had done their utmost, and would do it, to keep the soldiers in their barracks. The same person then said, "You know the

Here is the translated text as follows:450X, AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.I heard the expression, "let us go to the main guard"; Captain Goldfinch was still on the steps. I heard his voice still talking, and I think he desired every person to go away. While he was talking, I heard the report of a musket, then the report of a second gun, and presently a third. Upon the firing of the first gun, I heard Captain Goldfinch say, "I thought it would come to this, it is time for me to go." I then saw a soldier come down the alley

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSOn the evening of March 5th, around nine o'clock, I heard the bells ringing and ran out to see where the fire was. I went down to the South Meeting House and saw men and boys armed with clubs coming along. Some were cursing the soldiers, saying they would destroy them and sink them.William Davis, a sergeant major of the 14th regiment, recounted his experience on Monday evening, March 8th, around eight o'clock. He was heading towards the North End in Fore Street, near Wentworth’s Wharf, when he saw about

Here is the translated text as follows:452X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.I saw them, and they would have revenge for something or other, I could not tell what; that they would drive them before them. Some said they had been to Rowe’s barracks and had driven the soldiers or the sentinel into the barracks. I saw a number of people with clubs, and at a distance, a group of soldiers at the Custom House. I went down to the right of them, where Captain Preston stood. I had not been there a minute before the guns were fired. I saw several things

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSAndrew: I am Oliver Wendell's negro. On the evening of the fifth of March, I was at home when I heard the bells ring. I went to the gate and saw one of my acquaintances. I asked him what was the matter, and he said the soldiers were fighting, had got cutlasses, and were killing everybody. He told me that one of them had struck him on the arm and almost cut it off. He advised me not to go down, but I said a good club was better than

Here is the translated text as follows:454X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.A man was shouting and crying, "Damn them, they dare not fire, we are not afraid of them." One of these people, a stout man with a long, cord-wood stick, threw himself in and made a blow at the officer. I saw the officer try to ward off the stroke. The stout man turned around and struck the grenadier's gun at the captain's right hand, and immediately fell in with his club, knocked his gun away, and struck him over the head. The blow came either on the soldier's cheek or

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSOn the evening in question, upon returning home, I saw a number of people gathered around the sentinel, using opprobrious language and making threats. I urged them to disperse, warning them that the consequences would be fatal if they did not. A few snowballs were thrown, and the abusive language continued. They said, "Damn him, let him fire, he can fire but one gun." There might have been seventy to a hundred people there. When I could not persuade them to leave, I went to Mr. Payne's. Shortly after, the

Here is the translated text as follows:X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS456I said there was no fire, but I understood the soldiers were coming up to cut down Liberty Tree. I then went out to make an inquiry. Before I got into the street, I met Mr. Walker, the ship carpenter, and asked him what the matter was. He said he had been out and there was nobody in the street at all; the sentry at the custom-house was walking as usual, with nobody near him. I went up towards the town house, where there was a number of people, and inquired

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSIt appeared to me there were seven in all. When the last gun was discharged, I realized I was myself wounded and went into the house.December 1Joseph HinckleyOn the evening of the 6th, I heard the bells ring and went out to see where the fire was. I heard the drum beat and went down to the Conduit. I saw thirty or forty people with sticks in their hands. They hallooed, "King Street forever," and huzzaed. The sentinel was walking backwards and forwards with his firelock on his shoulder. Some

Here is the translated text as follows:458X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.The boys were in the front, and the men in the rear. Several people were running about the streets, and the cry was "damn the rascals." Some said, "This will never do; the readiest way to get rid of these people is to attack the main guard. Strike at the root; there is the nest."Mrs. Catherine Field testified that Patrick Carr, who was killed by the firing in King Street on the 5th, was in her house that evening. When the bells rang, he went upstairs and put his surtout on,

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSTHE SPEECHES FOR THE PRISONERSDecember 3Mr. Josiah Quincy, Jr.: May it please your Honor, and you, Gentlemen of the Jury: We have at length gone through the evidence in behalf of the prisoners. The witnesses have placed before you that state of facts from which results our defense. The examination has been so lengthy that I am afraid some painful sensations arise when you find that you are now to sit and hear the remarks of counsel. But you should reflect that no more indulgence is shown to the prisoners

Here is the translated text as follows:460 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.There is now no reason to alter our sentiments. Will any sober, prudent man countenance the proceedings of the people in King Street? Can anyone justify their conduct? Is there any one man, or any body of men, who are interested in espousing and supporting their conduct? Surely not. But our inquiry must be confined to the legality of their conduct; and here there can be no difficulty. It was certainly illegal, unless many witnesses are directly perjured; witnesses who have no apparent interest to falsify—witnesses who have given their

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERS. 461The cry was not, "Here is the soldier who has injured us—here is the fellow who wounded the man in Cornhill." No, the reasoning, or rather ferment, seems to be, "The soldiers have committed an outrage, and we have an equal right to inflict punishment, or rather revenge, which they had to make an assault." They said right, but never considered that those soldiers had no right at all. These are sentiments natural enough to persons in this state of mind—we can easily suppose even good men thinking and

Here is the translated text as follows:462 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALSThe law does not proceed upon the absurd supposition that a person can, in these circumstances, harm himself. Hence, we find that if a husband, catching his wife in the act of adultery, instantly seizes a deadly weapon and slays the adulterer, it is not considered murder. Indeed, even a fillip upon the nose or forehead, given in anger, is deemed by the law sufficient provocation to reduce a killing to manslaughter. It is, therefore, upon principles like these—principles upon which those who now bear the hardest against us at

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERS. 463Gentlemen of the Jury, after having thus gone through the evidence and considered it as applicatory to all and every one of the prisoners, the next matter in order seems to be the consideration of the law pertinent upon this evidence.Mr. Quincy now entered, at large, upon a review of the appearances in several parts of the town; he was copious upon the expressions and behavior sworn to. He then, more particularly, recapitulated the evidence touching Murray's barracks, Dock Square, and the Market place. He next pursued several parties

Here is the translated text as follows:464 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.And here, gentlemen, let me again inform you that the law which is to pass upon these prisoners is a law adapting itself to the human species, with all their feelings, passions, and infirmities. It is a law which does not go upon the absurd supposition that men are stocks and stones, or that in the fervor of the blood, a man can act with the deliberation and judgment of a philosopher. No, gentlemen; the law supposes that a principle of resentment, for wise and obvious reasons, is deeply implanted

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSTo be stigmatized with having smarted under the lash at the halbert; to be twitted with so infamous an ignominy, which was either wholly undeserved, or a grievance which should never have been repeated; I say, to call upon and awaken sensations of this kind, must sting even to madness. But couple these words with the succeeding actions—"You dastard—you coward!" A soldier and a coward! This was touching, with a witness, "the point of honor, and the pride of virtue." But while these are as yet fomenting the passions, and

Here is the translated text as follows:466 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Was anything done on the part of the assailants similar to the conduct, warnings, and declarations of the prisoners? Answer for yourselves, gentlemen. The words, reiterated all around, stabbed to the heart; the actions of the assailants tended to a worse end, to awaken every passion of which the human breast is susceptible. Fear, anger, pride, resentment, and revenge alternately take possession of the whole man. To expect, under these circumstances, that such words would assuage the tempest, that such actions would allay the flames—you might as rationally expect the

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSThere is a rule which, if taken in its strict literal sense, would imply that a man killing another in self-defense would incur the pains of death. This is a doctrine which no man in his senses would ever embrace; a doctrine that certainly never prevailed under the Mosaical institution. For we find the Jews had their six cities of refuge to which the manslayer might flee from the avenger of blood. And something analogous to this (if it did not originate from it) is our benefit of clergy.The phrase,

Here is the translated text as follows:488 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.In an assembly, each member is accountable only for their own actions, and not for the actions of others. However, if an assembly is deemed unlawful, the actions of any member, related to the purpose of the assembly, are attributable to all members. This is a legal principle that no lawyer would dispute. It is a law rooted in the need to maintain societal peace, and though often overlooked by the general public, it should be consistently considered.Was the assembly of the soldiers lawful? For what purpose did the soldiers

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERS. 469I have gone through those authorities in law which I thought pertinent to this trial. I have been thus lengthy, not for the information of the Court, but to satisfy you, gentlemen, and all who may chance to hear me, of that law which is well known to those of us who are conversant in courts, but not so generally known or attended to by many, as it ought to be. A law which extends to each of us, as well as to any of the prisoners; for it

Here is the translated text as follows:470 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS,We do not wish to extend matters so far. We cite this author to show the world that the greatest friends to their country, to universal liberty, and the immutable rights of all men have held tenets and advanced maxims favorable to the prisoners at the bar. And although we should not adopt the sentiments of Mr. Locke in their most extensive latitude, yet there seems to be something very analogous to this opinion, which is countenanced in our laws.There is a spirit which pervades the whole system of English

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSI hope you will approach your role as judge with a becoming temper of mind, remembering that those who are under oath to declare the whole truth think and act very differently from bystanders. Bystanders, being under no such obligations, take a latitude which is by no means admissible in a court of law.I cannot better close this cause than by desiring you to consider well the genius and spirit of the law which will be laid down, and to govern yourselves by this great standard of truth. To some

Here is the translated text as follows:472 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.We must recollect with what temper the law requires we should proceed to this trial. The form of proceeding at their arraignment has discovered that the spirit of the law upon such occasions is conformable to humanity, to common sense and feeling; that it is all benignity and candor. And the trial commences with the prayer of the court, expressed by the clerk, to the supreme judge of judges, empires, and worlds: "God send you a good deliverance."We find, in the rules laid down by the greatest English judges, who

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMUS AND SEVEN OTHERS. 473Quod dubitas ne feceris; where you are doubtful, never act; that is, if you doubt the prisoner's guilt, never declare him guilty. This is always the rule, especially in cases of life. Another rule from the same author is that in some cases, presumptive evidence goes so far as to prove a person guilty, though there is no express proof of the fact having been committed by him. However, it must be very warily pressed, for it is better that five guilty persons should escape unpunished than that one

Here is the translated text as follows:474%. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.I shall now consider the several divisions of law under which the evidence will arrange itself.The act now before you is homicide, that is, the killing of one man by another. The law calls it homicide, but it is not criminal in all cases for one man to slay another. Had the prisoners been on the plains of Abraham and slain a hundred Frenchmen apiece, the English law would have considered it as a commendable action, virtuous and praiseworthy. So, every instance of killing a man is not a crime in

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERSWe have an inherent affection for ourselves, implanted by nature, and we can annihilate ourselves as easily as we can root out this affection. It is the first and strongest principle in our nature; Blackstone calls it "the primary canon in the law of nature." The precept of our holy religion, which commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves, does not command us to love our neighbor better than ourselves, or even as well. No Christian divine has given this interpretation. The precept enjoins that our benevolence to our

Here is the translated text as follows:476 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.It is justifiable to repel force by force against anyone who endeavors to commit any kind of felony on oneself or one's property. The rule is clear: I have a right to stand in my own defense if you intend to commit a felony. If any of the persons made an attack on these soldiers with the intention to rob them, even if it was just to take their hats feloniously, the soldiers had a right to kill them on the spot and had no obligation to retreat. If a

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERS. 477Consider that the people around you thought you came to dragoon them into obedience to statutes, instructions, mandates, and edicts, which they thoroughly detested. Many of these people were thoughtless and inconsiderate, old and young, sailors and landmen, negroes and mulattos. The soldiers had no friends among them; the rest were in opposition to them. With all the bells ringing to call the town together to assist the people in King Street, for they knew by that time that there was no fire, the people were shouting, huzzaing, and

Here is the translated text as follows:478 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.Where a known felony is attempted upon a person, be it to rob or murder, the party assaulted may repel force with force. Even the assaulted person's own servant, then attendant on them, or any other person present, may interpose to prevent mischief. If death ensues, the party so interposing will be justified. In this case, nature and social duty cooperate. (Foster 274. Hawkins, P. C, Chap. xxviii, Sec. 25, towards the end.)Yet it seems that a private person, a fortiori, an officer of justice, who happens unavoidably to kill

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMHS AND SEVEN OTHERS. 479The law allows one to act upon unavoidable necessity; but also, he who, being assaulted in such a manner and in such a place that he cannot retreat without manifestly endangering his life, kills the other without retreating at all. See. 16. "And an officer who kills one that insults him in the execution of his office, and where a private person that kills one who feloniously assaults him in the highway may justify the fact without ever giving back at all."In the case before you, I suppose you

Here is the translated text as follows:480. X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.At certain critical seasons, even in the mildest government, the people are liable to run into riots and tumults. There are church quakes and state quakes in the moral and political world, as well as earthquakes, storms, and tempests in the physical. However, it must be said in favor of the people and of human nature that it is a general, if not a universal truth, that the aptitude of the people to mutinies, seditions, tumults, and insurrections is in direct proportion to the despotism of the government. In governments

Here is the translated text as follows:WILLIAM WEMUS AND SEVEN OTHERS. 481In the case here, we will take Montgomery, if you please, when he was attacked by the stout man with the stick, who aimed it at his head, with a number of people around him, crying out, "Kill them! Kill them!" Had he not a right to kill the man? If all the party were guilty of the assault made by the stout man, and all of them had discovered malice in their hearts, had not Montgomery a right, according to Lord Chief Justice Holt, to put it out

Here is the translated text as follows:482 AMERICAN STATE TRIALSIn this case, the principal issue is the reversal of the scene; if you are satisfied that these soldiers were present on a lawful design, and it is proven that any of them shot without provocation and killed someone, then only that individual is answerable for it. According to 1st Hale P.C., "Although if many come upon an unlawful design, and one of the company kills one of the adverse party, in pursuance of that design, all are principals: yet if many are together upon a lawful account, and one of