Category: TRANSCRIPTS: ATLANTA CONSTITUTION

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 5th, 1913 Police Sergeant L. S. Dobbs was the witness who followed Grice. The officer had already testified on the first day of the trial and was brought back for only a few minutes. "Did you find a handkerchief that Sunday morning in the factory?" "Yes, sir, in the basement near a trash pile." "That's all," said the solicitor. Mr. Rosser then asked the officer several questions in regard to the detail of the basement and said he was through. Mr. Dorsey then showed the officer a flashlight photograph of the spot in the basement where the girl's Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 5th, 1913 Witness Had Gone to the Pencil Factory After Reading The Constitution Extra L. O. Grice was the first witness put on the stand when court convened Monday morning. He was kept there but a few minutes. He stated that he is employed by W. H. Smith, auditor of the Atlanta and West Point railroad, and that he lives at 270 Houston street. "Where were you on Sunday, April 27, about 8 o'clock?" Mr. Dorsey started out. "I was in front of The Constitution building and I saw one of their extras and went on down to Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 5th, 1913 Shortly after the courtroom had been cleared of women during the trial of Leo M. Frank Monday, Detective Harper entered the room with a handsome woman and the two took a leisurely survey of those in the courtroom. It was learned that the woman is a waitress at a well-known restaurant, and that shortly after the murder she is supposed to have overheard a conversation with two men who were discussing the killing. It is said they were friends of Frank and that they made admissions which would prove important to the state. The two men Read More ...

The Atlanta Constitution,Tuesday, 5th August 1913,PAGE 1, COLUMN 3."JIM. CAN YOU PUT THIS CORD AROUDN YOUR NECK LIKE YOU FOUND IT ON MARY PHAGAN'S BODY?"SOLICITOR DORSEY.WOMEN SPECTATORS.JIM CONLEYOn the STAND.Tuesday, 5th August 1913 Scenes In Courtroom Monday While Conley Was On Stand

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 5th, 1913 Declares There Were Bars Across Door on Second Floor on Day Before Murder. Following Sergeant Dobbs, Mell Stanford, a factory employee, who had previously testified, was recalled for a few minutes. "Was the door on the second floor back locked or unlocked on Friday, April 25?" asked Mr. Dorsey. "There were bars across it," said Stanford. "Was there any way to get down back there?" "Only by the fire escape.""Was the area of the metal room cleaned up after the murder?" "Yes, sir, during the following week." "Did you clean it up?" asked Mr. Rosser, who Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 5th, 1913 While T. Y. Brent, notary public and ex-officio justice of the peace, was waiting in the witness room of the Frank murder trial yesterday, the "big and little of it" came to him to pronounce the magic words which would make them forever man and wife, one and inseparable. Cleve Ware, weighing at the most 120 pounds, and Mattie Turner, who could easily muster 250 pounds, if required, were the parties, being from the swell section of Darktown. The judge performed the ceremony in the most approved style, and Frank murder trial witnesses acting as the Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 5th, 1913 By Britt Craig. There was a chorus girl who sat next to an aged and withered woman who is undoubtedly a grandmother—a great-grandmother, maybe; there was a painted-cheeked girl with hollow eyes who bore the unmistakable stain of crimson, who sat between a mother who held in her lap an eager 13-year-old. There was a wrinkled and worn old woman with the lines of care stamped indelibly, who hobbled into the room on a crutch and sat beside a man who chewed tobacco and whispered profanity. Over in a corner there was a graceful young woman Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 6th, 1913 ROSSER ADOPTS NEW TONE MONDAY Jim Conley, upon whose story practically the entire result of the Frank case is believed to rest, went on the stand at 9:03 o'clock and when court adjourned for lunch at 12:30 he was still being cross-examined by Luther Rosser for the defense. The lawyer had reached that point in his cross-fire of questions where he had begun to hector the witness and to take him up whenever he made a mistake, but it appeared that he was only about half through with his work. When the adjournment was taken Conley Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 6th, 1913 GRILLED 12 HOURS BY LUTHER ROSSER JIM CONLEY INSISTS FRANK GUILTY MAN Declaring That "I Don't Remember," or, "No, Sir; I Didn't Say That," or Simply Affirming Blandly That He Had Lied on a Previous Occasion, Negro Sweeper Sticks to Story Told on the Witness Stand on Monday Morning Despite Most Rigid Cross-Examination of Trial. AFFIDAVIT BY MINCEY OF CONLEY CONFESSION IS DENIED BY WITNESS Apparently Despairing of Breaking the Negro, Attorneys for Defense Appeal to Judge Roan to Strike All Evidence Relating to Alleged Previous Conduct of Frank Before Day of Murder on Ground of Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 6th, 1913 At the opening of the afternoon session, Attorney Reuben Arnold arose, asking that the jury be sent from the room. When the twelve men had passed into their rom, he made a motion asking the court to exclude from Conley's statement that testimony pertaining to Conley having watched previously for Frank and to an unprintable scene the negro said he had witnessed between the superintendent and a young girl in Frank's office. The motion was made on grounds of irrelevancy. "First," said Mr. Arnold, "I desire to ask the court to rule out that testimony of Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 6th, 1913 By Britt Craig. Sometimes it is lucky to be ignorant. Most people don't believe this, but it has been proven true in the cases of Newt Lee and Jim Conley in facing the nerve-racking cross-examination of Luther Rosser. The average white man in Jim's fix would last just several minutes it is likely - perhaps even less. And if he were a cigarette fiend– There have been many interesting features to the Frank trial but chief of them all is the manner in which these two negroes have stood grilling of attorneys for the defense proving Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 6th, 1913 SMITH ALLOWED ACCESS TO CLIENT After Judge Roan had ruled out the Conley testimony relating to alleged previous actions of Frank, the jury was returned to the courtroom, and Attorney Rosser resumed his cross-examination of Conley. "Jim, you took the body of that girl, you say, and wrapped her in a cloth, didn't you?""Yes, sir." "Was the cloth all around her?""No, sir, it didn't go over her whole body." "Did it cover her head?""No, sir." "Her feet?""No, sir." "How much of her body was projecting out of the cloth?""I don't know, sir." "You tied the cloth Read More ...

The Atlanta Constitution,Wednesday, 6th August 1913,PAGE 1, COLUMN 2.From left to right: Striking photograph of Mrs. Leo Frank as she entered the courtroom Tuesday afternoon; grandmother of Mary Phagan. Two women spectators, who were excluded from the trial during Jim Conley's testimony.Photos by Francis E Price, Staff Photographer.PAGE 3, COLUMN 2Conley Leaving Courtroom After TestimonyPhoto by Francis E Price, Staff Photographer.Left to right: Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford, Jim Conley and Chief of Police James L. Beavers.PAGE 4, COLUMN 4Mayor Opposes Women Police.Mayor Woodward regards as doubtful the plan of Chief Beavers to appoint women on the police department. His Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 7th, 1913 Following Conley's departure from the stand the jury was allowed a five minute recess and on their return Solicitor Dorsey tendered in evidence a picture of the pencil factory basement which was taken by Francis B. Price, The Constitution staff photographer on the morning that the body was found a of which appeared in The Constitution. He also tendered a scratch pad sample of one of those around the factory the murder notes and the pad found near the body. There were no objections from the defense. "Bring in C. B. Dalton," called out the solicitor. Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 7th, 1913 W. H. Mincey, witness for the defense in the Leo M. Frank trial whose substantial affidavit that Jim Conley had told him of killing a white girl on the day Mary Phagan was murdered was published some weeks ago was a conspicuous figure in front of the courthouse Wednesday. Mincey is a country school teacher and has been for twenty years. He is not used to city ways, he says, and the excitement of the crowd around the courthouse seemed to worry him. "I have great patriotism," said Mr. Mincey, "and that is the sole reason Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 7th, 1913 By Sidney Ormond When the spectators at the Frank trial Wednesday broke into a ripple of applause, after Judge Roan had announced his decision that the damaging evidence of Jim Conley that he had "watched out for Frank on several occasions prior to the murder and had encountered him in an attitude which set him apart from normal men would remain in the records—when this applause came—it was not that any man contributing to it necessarily thought Frank guilty. It was simply a spontaneous tribute to Solicitor Hugh Dorsey who has fought so doggedly against such Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 7th, 1913 At the continuation of the argument on the subject of Judge Roan's reserved decision, Solicitor Dorsey cited extracts from many legal volumes, many of which pertained to the untimeliness of objections in just such cases as the one which he argued. "It makes no difference if the act in question was a separate or distinct crime," he said, "just so it shows a course of conduct and has sufficient value to the case on trial. It is absolutely admissible. "We contend that the defense has stopped at this late hour, after examining extensively, and along the Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 7th, 1913 Dr. Roy F. Harris, the pathologist, head of the state board of health, and the expert who exhumed and examined the body of Mary Phagan, went on the stand at the close of the argument over Judge Roan's reserved decision to continue the testimony from which he was interrupted Friday by a fainting spell in the courtroom. He still suffered from weakness and was allowed to sit in a heavily-upholstered armchair. He was questioned first by Solicitor Dorsey. "Dr. Harris, what is your particular branch of medicine?""My usual line is pathology, chemistry and chemical work, as Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 7th, 1913 Mrs. J. W. Coleman, mother of Mary Phagan, followed Dr. Harris to the stand. She told of cooking an amount of cabbage at the chemists request for his experiments with the four men. She stated that it had been ground finely as she had prepared it on the day of Mary's last meal and had boiled it for an hour. She remained on the stand but for a few minutes and was asked but a few questions by either the state or defense. She was asked to describe Mary's pocketbook answering that she had already given Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 7th, 1913 JUDGE ROAN DENIES MOTION OF DEFENSE TO STRIKE PART OF CONLEY TESTIMONY Reuben Arnold Threatens to Call for Mistrial if There Should Be Recurrence of Applause Which Marked Reception of the Decision. Judge Announces That the Court Room Would Be Cleared if There Was Any More Disorder. BAFFLED BY ATTITUDE OF CONLEY ON STAND, DEFENSE ENDS GRILL Dr. Roy Harris Testifies in Afternoon, Declaring That Death Was Caused by Strangulation—Tells of Experiments With Four Men in Digestion of Cabbage Cooked by Mrs. Coleman, Mother of Girl Who Was Murdered—C. B. Dalton Testifies Today. When, shortly after Read More ...

The Atlanta Constitution,Thursday, 7th August 1913,PAGE 1, COLUMN 2.Conley Leaving Courtroom After TestimonyPhoto by Francis E Price, Staff Photographer.Left to right: Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford, Jim Conley and Chief of Police James L. Beavers.PAGE 4, COLUMN 2SOLICITOR HUGH DORSEY.Thursday, 7th August 1913 Their Testimony Will Have Direct Bearing On Leo Frank's Case

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 7th, 1913 On the opening of court Wednesday morning when Judge L. S. Roan announced that he would postpone his final decision in regard to the admissibility of Jim Conley's evidence in regard to Leo Frank's alleged misconduct and also to the negro's acting on previous occasions as his "lookout," Luther Rosser began his final effort to break the negro down. Conley stayed on the stand until 10 o'clock and was then excused. He had been testifying for fifteen hours in all and of this thirteen hours had been under the merciless grilling of Attorney Rosser. The negro Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 7th, 1913 By Britt Craig. There is one woman with no connection whatever with the Frank case who sits undisturbed in an obscure corner of the courtroom. Throughout Jim Conley's testimony, she remained in her seat while court deputies removed women from all parts of the place and sent them outside at order of the judge. She is Mrs. Hattie Barnett, a detective, and a woman who has seen more of the world and knows more of its multivaried phases than many of Atlanta's most successful business men. She has seen and heard enough not to be touched Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 8th, 1913 C.B. Dalton a railroad carpenter who was heralded as one of the star witnesses for the defense was called to the stand by Solicitor Dorsey whe court convened Thursday morning. The most startling statement uttered by Dalton from the stand was that he used the basement of the National Pencil company factory for clandestine meetings with girls and women. Although not an employee of the factory and although his acquaintance with Frank was a Dalton testified that the factory superintendent knew of his visits to the basement with women. Dalton named three females with whom he Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 8th, 1913 C. B. DALTON TELLS ABOUT VISITS HE PAID THE PENCIL FACTORY WITH MANY WOMEN Declares He Used Basement for Immoral Purposes at Same Time That Frank Was in Building, But Did Not Attempt to Say What the Superintendent's Relations With Women Were—Declares Conley Acted as Lookout for Him. DR. LEROY W. CHILDS CALLED BY DEFENSE TO REFUTE DR. HARRIS Harry Scott Is Also Put on Stand by Defense to Prove That Conley Lied on Many Occasions—Detective Was on the Stand When Court Adjourned for Day—Cross-Examination Fails to Shake Dr. Harris. Shortly after Dr. H. F. Harris Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 8, 1913 Dr. LeRoy W. Childs who was the first witness placed on the stand by the defense underwent a rigorous cross examination by Solicitor Dorsey. The solicitor showed a keen knowledge of medicine and chemistry in the volley of questions he fired at the medical expert, and, upon one occasion elicited the admission from the witness that he was not informed of a certain phase of laboratory work on which great stress had been laid by Dr. Roy Harris who preceded Dr. Childs to the stand. In concluding his testimony Dr. Childs when asked by the solicitor Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 8th, 1913 Following Dr. H. F. Harris, the final witness of the state, DR. L. W. Childs also an expert on matters pertaining to the various processes of digestion was placed on the stand by the defense to refute what Dr. Harris had said about the food in Mary Phagan's stomach showing that she had been killed in about half an hour after she ate. Dr. Childs took a decidedly opposite stand from that of his brother physician and declared that he would hazard no guess within two hours of the time that death occurred after eating and Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 8th, 1913 Dr. R. T. Dorsey Also Comes to Assistance of Solicitor in the Frank Case Dr. Frank L. Eskridge, a well-known physician, is assisting Solicitor General Dorsey in the solicitor's examination of expert chemists and medical men and in cross-examinations of experts presented by the defense. Dr. Eskridge is widely versed in various branches of medicine, chemistry and surgery, and has proved an invaluable aid to the solicitor, especially in the examination of Dr. Roy Harris. In the cross-examination of Dr. Leroy Childs, in the afternoon session Thursday, the solicitor was valuably assisted by his brother, Dr. Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 8th, 1913 Dr. H.F. Harris, the state's final witness against Leo M. Frank, was put on the stand for cross examination shortly after 10 o'clock Thursday morning, and through a series of questions Attorney Reuben Arnold, for the defense, sought to make him less definite in regard to the time of Mary Phagan's death after eating the meal of cabbage and bread about 11:30 on the day she was killed. Dr. Harris was asked a number of questions about digestion, and while he admitted it to be a subject that is not thoroughly understood by scientists, he clung Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 8th, 1913 City Detective Bass Rosser, who worked on the Phagan mystery, followed Dalton on the stand Thursday morning to tell that Mrs. Arthur White, whose husband, father and brother work for the National Pencil company, had not told him of seeing a strange negro in the factory on the day of the crime, although he questioned her about her knowledge of what went on there that day, and she had also told her brother, Wade Campbell, of seeing the negro. "Have you worked on this case?" asked Solicitor Hugh Dorsey. "Yes, sir," replied the detective. "Did you Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 8th, 1913 SHOWS NEGRO LIED MANY TIMES The defense sprang a surprise during the afternoon session whey they called Detective Harry Scott to the stand to testify to the third-degree under which Jim Conley had been placed at police headquarters and which process had exacted his three conflicting confessions. Scott stated throughout his testimony that Conley had told conflicting stories on numerous occasions during his early imprisonment, and that had failed to tell the detectives much of the story which he related on the witness stand Tuesday and Wednesday. Scott's statement created a telling of fact and it Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 8th, 1913 Will Leo Frank's character be one of the issues in his trial for the murder of little Mary Phagan? That is the question which has been the subject of speculation since it was first known that he would be tried for the murder, and as the case has progressed the subject has been discussed frequently. Not one in a hundred defendants place their character in issue when on trial for murder, but a condition has arisen in the Frank case which may cause his attorneys to think it wise to take this step. It came when Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 9th, 1913 Ira U. Kauffman, civil engineer, who had been employed by the defense to make drawings of the Selig home at 68 East Georgia avenue, where Frank and his wife lived, and also of the National Pencil factory, followed the street car conductor on the stand. Kauffman testified that he made the plats of the Selig home on Tuesday of this week. The plats were shown to the jury. "Could you stand in the kitchen and see the mirror in the dining room?" asked Mr. Arnold. "It is impossible to see the mirror from the kitchen." "Why?" Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 9th, 1913 W. T. Hollis, of 16 Western avenue, the conductor on the English avenue car on which Mary Phagan rode to town on the day she was murdered, followed the motorman on the stand. He also declared that the girl was not accompanied by a boy and that she did not get off at Forsyth and Marietta streets where he left the car. He also declared that she was not accompanied by any boy answering the description of George Epps, but that a little girl was with her. Hollis corroborated the testimony of the motorman in practically Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 9th, 1913 At the opening of the afternoon session the defense called for George Epps, the 14-year-old newsboy, who says he rode uptown with Mary Phagan on the day of her death. He did not answer. Mr. Arnold asked the assistance of Judge Roan in bringing the boy to court. The judge dispatched a bailiff in search of the newsie, armed with an attachment. He was not produced, however, at any time during the afternoon session. * * * Atlanta Constitution, August 9th 1913, "Couldn't Locate Epps Boy When Wanted in Court," Leo Frank case newspaper article series

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 9th, 1913 Eleven Witnesses Are Introduced Friday to Prove Discrepancies in Time Given by Witnesses for the State. Miss Daisy Hopkins Goes on Stand and Swears That She Never Visited Factory With Dalton, But on Cross-Examination She Admitted Having Been in Jail Recently—She Denied That She Knew Frank. HOLLOWAY'S TESTIMONY RIDDLED BY SOLICITOR; MEMORY FORSAKES HIM Confesses That He Had Told Detectives the Day That He Caused the Arrest of Conley That "If He's Convicted, Remember He's My Nigger"—From Present Indications the Trial Will Be Continued for Two Weeks Longer, and Defense Will Introduce Character Witnesses. The defense Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 9th, 1913 W. M. Mathews, of 459 Lee street, car motorman who declares that Mary Phagan rode to town on his car on April 26, followed Daisy Hopkins on the stand. Mathews gave a new turn to the theory of the girl's actions of that day by declaring that she rode to Broad and Hunter streets before getting off with another girl who was with her, and also by saying that he did not see George Epps on the car with her. In answer to questions the motorman asserted that Mary Phagan got on his car at Lindsay Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 9th, 1913 When court convened Friday morning Harry Scott, Pinkerton detective, engaged by the defense in the Phagan case, was recalled to the stand by the state and asked how long it took Jim Conley, the negro sweeper, to write a copy of one of the murder notes when it was read off to him and , dictated word for word. The detective declared that the negro had taken about three or four minutes for this. "Boots" Rogers was next called and asked one question about the condition of the basement. Rogers is the ex-county policeman in whose Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 9th, 1913 H. J. Hinchey, of 391 Peachtree street, a business acquaintance of Leo Frank, and manager of the South Atlantic Blow Pipe company, was put upon the stand by the defense. He stated having seen Frank on the murder date as the superintendent rode into town on a Washington street trolley car, meeting him at Washington and Hunter streets. He was questioned by Mr. Arnold. "Do you recollect April 26, Memorial day?" "Yes.""Did you see Leo Frank that day?""Yes." "Where?""Near the capitol." "Was he on foot or riding?""He was aboard a trolley car." "Were you on foot?""No, Read More ...

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 9th, 1913 E. F. Holloway, watchman and timekeeper at the pencil factory, whose testimony Solicitor Dorsey riddled on cross-examination, followed General Manager Darley to the stand. He gave his answers rapidly, making them frequently even before Attorney Arnold had finished propounding his questions. He is a man who looks older than 60, with cold gray eyes and thin lips. His general appearance causes the lover of Dickens to think that the aged witness had stepped from one of that author's novels. He became confused upon the cross-fire of the solicitor, and perspired profusely. Same Rule for All. He Read More ...