Category Archives: Newspaper coverage

Operations of Slavers in Hotels Bared

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The Atlanta Georgian

Monday, July 7, 1913

Victim Tells Beavers Names of Women and Man Engaged in Traffic in Girls.

A new and sensational expose of vice conditions said to be prevalent in Atlanta was made Monday morning by Hattie Smith, a pretty 17-year-old girl, who was arrested in a hotel which was raided Sunday night.

If the statements of the Smith girl, who made a confession of her own guilt to the Chief, are true, Atlanta is in the clutches of one of the best organized vice systems in existence.

Certain downtown hotels, the girl claims, are the rendezvous of women procurers who go out on the streets and entice young girls in where they are provided with every comfort and convenience, in addition to being carried out on long automobile rides by strange men.

Gives Chief Names.

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Lee’s Attorney is Ready for Writ Fight

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Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

The Atlanta Georgian

Monday, July 7, 1913

Habeas Corpus Move to Free Negro in Phagan Case Due to Start Monday.

Habeas corpus proceedings in behalf of Newt Lee, negro night watchman at the National Pencil Factory, were promised Monday by the negro’s attorney, Bernard L. Chappell. Settlement of this phase of the Phagan murder mystery will determine definitely the status of the negro.

It is known that the State regards Lee as a material witness in building up its case against Frank. The attitude of Mr. Chappell is that his client knows no more about [the] crime than he already has told, and should therefore be freed. Lee has told the detectives nothing which links any man directly with the crime. By the defense, his story is held to point to the guilt of Leo Frank no more than to the guilt of Conley.

The State, however, will fight any effort to give the negro his liberty. Solicitor Dorsey fears that Lee will get out of the jurisdiction of the court once he is permitted his freedom.

The battle over Lee is the only outward sign of activity in the Phagan case etiher [sic] by the defense or the prosecution, but it is known that the defense is busily engaged completing its case. One new witness was interviewed Saturday by Frank’s lawyers, and his affidavit taken before a notary public. A strong net is being woven about Conley. The nature of the testimony is being kept secret, but it is known that the defense expects to free Frank by showing that it was Conley who committed the crime. The negro is said to be enmeshed in the testimony in the hands of the defense.

Despite rumors of another postponement, attorneys for the defense and prosecution said Monday that they would be ready to go ahead with the case at the time set for trial, July 28, and that they knew of no reason for further delay.

Jury to Consider Indicting Conley.

What was considered a direct reference to the Phagan case was made in the charge of Superior Judge George L. Bell to the Grand Jury Monday morning. He said he wanted to place particular emphasis on recent “horrible homicides” and urged the jury to probe deep in an effort to find clews that would lead to perpetrators.

The Grand Jury was organized at 9 o’clock Monday morning with W. D. Beattie foreman. Judge Bell made one of the shortest charges ever delivered in a Fulton County courtroom.

Immediately following the charge the jury went into executive session to consider bills presented by the Solicitor’s office. After to-day’s session the calendar of criminal business will be disposed of, and the jury will have every opportunity to take up any matters it might see fit.

A meeting will be called later in the week when a definite plan of action will be outlined for the term. It was regarded as likely that the Phagan case would be reopened and an indictment against Jim Conley considered.

Other matters that might be taken up are recent developments with the police department, in which eight patrolmen were suspended for alleged corruption, the counter charges of corruption made by them and charges of open vice.

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The Atlanta Georgian, July 7th 1913, “Lee’s Attorney is Ready for Writ Fight,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

New Move in Phagan Case by Solicitor

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The Atlanta Georgian

Sunday, July 6, 1913

Dorsey Will Endeavor to Force Defense to Disclose Their Documentary Evidence.

ACT IS COUNTERSTROKE

Frank’s Attorneys Said to Have Affidavits Exonerating Frank and Indicating Conley’s Guilt.

A sensational turn in the Phagan murder mystery, according to one of the attorneys for the defense, will develop next week when Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey issues a subpena duces tecum on Attorneys Luther Z. Rosser and Reuben Arnold, citing them to produce all the affidavits they have secured that bear on the crime.

The movement is in the nature of a counterstroke to block the pending subpenas duces tecum filed by the defense, citing the State to produce all the affidavits that have been secured.

The defense strongly maintains that it will win its point and that the prosecution will suffer. The attorneys say that the Constitution of the State clearly outlines the action of the court in such matters—”that the defendant is entitled to be faced with all the evidence against him”—while the prosecution will labor under the handicap that “a defendant is innocent until he is proven guilty.”

Dorsey Is Silent.

While no announcement would be made by Solicitor Dorsey relative to the contemplated subpenas duces tecum, it was intimated by him that such action might be taken at an early date, and that when it was the defense and the prosecution would lock horns in the first decisive battle in the sensational case.

Affidavits that are sought by the defense are the three different sworn statements of the negro, Jim Conley, the affidavit given by the negro cook at the Frank home, Minola McKnight, the Formby affidavit and the affidavit of Monteen Stover, the girl who stated that she entered Frank’s office at a time when he said he was there, and found the office deserted.

The State will seek to obtain affidavits contradicting their theory and placing the crime on the negro sweeper, Jim Conley. These affidavits are said to deal principally with the time different witnesses entered and left the factory April 26, the most vital question in the trial.

Affidavits of Defense.

The defense is said to be in possession of affidavits that show Monteen Stover entered and departed from the factory before Mary Phagan’s car reached the heart of the city; that the negro Jim Conley entered the factory earlier in the day than he said he did, and that he, instead of the indicted pencil factory superintendent, committed the murder, because the superintendent left the factory at least ten minutes before Conley said he helped him dispose of the body, and that the Formby affidavit, a one-time sensational bit of evidence substantiating the defense, was given by the woman at the behest of the police detectives without regard for its accuracy, and that Mrs. Formby has since admitted that she never knew Leo M. Frank or heard of him until he was held as a suspect in connection with the murder.

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The Atlanta Georgian, July 6th 1913, “New Move in Phagan Case by Solicitor,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Phagan Case Centers on Conley; Negro Lone Hope of Both Sides

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The Atlanta Georgian

Sunday, July 6, 1913

*Editor’s Note: See insert article, “Decisions Which May Aid Defense of Frank”, at the conclusion of this post.

Frank Expects Freedom by Breaking Down Accuser’s Testimony, and State a Conviction by Establishing Truth of Statements.

BY AN OLD POLICE REPORTER.

The developments in the Phagan case have been of late highly significant and interesting.

During the past week, it became evident that the very heart and soul of both the prosecution and the defense is to center largely about the negro, James Conley.

He is at once apparently the hope and the despair of both sides to the contest!

This circumstance, however, while tending to add much to the dramatic and the uncertain, in so far as the outcome is concerned, is not by any means an unusual thing in cases of this kind.

It frequently happens in mysterious murder cases that both the State and the defense must pin their faith to one and the same witness.

Of late there has been some talk of the Grand Jury indicting Conley, even over the Solicitor General’s head, which, of course, it would have a perfect right to do.

The thought occurred to me some time ago that the case might take that direction, but in the article in which that point was discussed, I mentioned it incidentally, rather than as a likely thing.

Indictment may Mean Much.

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Application to Release Lee is Ready to File

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Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

The Atlanta Georgian

Sunday, July 6, 1913

Negro’s Lawyer Says He Will Offer Habeas Corpus When Solicitor Dorsey Returns.

On account of the absence from the city of Prosecuting Attorney Hugh M. Dosey [sic], Bernard L. Chappell, attorney for Newt Lee, announced Saturday that he would not file a writ of habeas corpus until Monday. He claims in the petition for the release of the negro that Lee is being held unlawfully and without any charge against him.

Solicitor Dorsey left for his country place at Valdosta, Ga., Saturady [sic] morning. He will return Monday.

Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey will ask the courts to hold the negro as a material witness for the State, or may charge him with being an accessory. He was determined Friday to take no chances on so important a witness getting out of his control, as he feared the negro might get beyond the jurisdiction of the courts if given his liberty.

Attorney Chappell and Solicitor Dorsey had agreed, when the negro was committed to jail, to keep him there until the trial. Chappell notified Dorsey Wednesday that he wished to withdraw from the agreement and get his client freed.

Chief Discounts Conley Rumor.

The announcement Friday that the defense had secured an important and damaging affidavit that connected the State’s star witness, Jim Conley, more directly with the crime created a sensation in the ranks of the prosecution.

Chief of Detectives Newport A. Lanford announced that every movement of the negro on the day of the crime had been “checked up,” and that it was a matter of impossibility to find anything more damaging against him than his admission that he helped dispose of the body at the request of Frank.

In commenting on the affidavit secured at the office of Joseph H. Leavitt Thursday the attorney said that it would be almost impossible for the prosecution to break down any statement that was made in the affidavit when the witness was placed on the stand.

Calls Evidence Vital.

He said the witness was a citizen of high standing and would be one of the most important for the defense of Frank.

Attorney Leavitt said that this particular affidavit was one of more than 50 that had been recently secured that dealt almost exclusively with the movements of the negro on the day of the murder. While he would not comment at any length, he intimated that the defense had been able to establish conclusively the exact time Conley entered and left the factory.

He also intimated that affidavits had been secured that would show what time Monteen Stover entered and left the factory and be able to prove she left before Mary Phagan’s car reached the vicinity of the pencil factory.

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The Atlanta Georgian, July 6th 1913, “Application to Release Lee is Ready to File,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Fight for Newt Lee’s Freedom is Delayed

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The Atlanta Journal

Saturday, July 5, 1913

Bernard Chappell, His Lawyer, Expects to Bring Habeas Corpus on Monday

Bernard L. Chappell, attorney for Newt Lee, the [negro watchman], who found the body of Mary Phagan, declared Saturday that he had been unable to complete all of his work in connection with his proposed filing of a habeas corpus writ in an effort to liberate his client.

Mr. Chappelle [sic] said that he had expected to file the writ Saturday, but was delayed, and is now certain he can file it by Monday morning.

Mr. Chappell asserted that sensational developments might be expected when the writ is heard.

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The Atlanta Journal, July 5th 1913, “Fight for Newt Lee’s Freedom is Delayed,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Liberty for Newt Lee Sought

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The Atlanta Georgian

Saturday, July 5, 1913

Writ to Free Watchman From the Tower Will Be Filed—State to Oppose Liberation.

The prosecution will fight an entirely new angle in the Phagan case Saturday morning when Barnard [sic] L. Chappell, attorney for Newt Lee, the negro night watchman, files a writ of habeas corpus for the release of the negro from the Tower, where he is being held without any charge against him.

Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey will ask the courts to hold the negro as a material witness for the State, or may charge him with being an accessory. He was determined Friday to take no chances on so important a witness getting out of his control, as he feared the negro might get beyond the jurisdiction of the courts if given his liberty.

Attorney Chappell and Solicitor Dorsey had agreed, when the negro was committed to jail, to keep him there until the trial. Chappell notified Dorsey Wednesday that he wished to withdraw from the agreement and get his client freed.

Chief Discounts Conley Rumor.

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Unbiased in the Flanders Case, Says Slaton

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The Atlanta Georgian

Saturday, July 5, 1913

New Governor Declares He Will Take Action After Hearing All Sides.

Governor Slaton has formed no opinion in the famous McNaughton-Mattie Flanders murder case, and says he will make no decision until he has heard all sides. The new Governor says he has not talked to the former Governor about the case. He will hear, he said, all arguments without prejudice.

It is known that the hopes of McNaughton’s friends for commutation of sentence, if not pardon, have been greatly strengthened now that Governor Slaton is in the executive office.

The statement, made time and again, to the effect that Mrs. Mattie Flanders, alleged co-conspirator with Dr. W. J. McNaughton, never will be tried, has been renewed now that Governor Brown, who stood so long between Dr. McNaughton and the gallows, has been succeeded.

It was said months ago to be the purpose of those urging that the law be permitted to take its course against Dr. McNaughton to kick the case along from one court to another until a change in administrations had been effected in Atlanta. Governor Brown let it be known all along that he would not permit Dr. McNaughton to hang so long as the case against Mrs. Flanders remained undisposed of.

Waiting Game Played.

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Application for Lee’s Release Delayed

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Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

The Atlanta Georgian

Saturday, July 5, 1913

Watchman’s Lawyer Says He Will Await Return of Dorsey Before Filing Habeas Corpus.

On account of the absence form the city of Prosecuting Attorney Hugh M. Dorsey, Bernard L. Chappell, attorney for Newt Lee, announced Saturday that he would not file a writ of habeas corpus until Monday. He claims in the petition for the release of the negro that Lee is being held unlawfully and without any charge against him.

Solicitor Dorsey left for his country place at Valdosta, Ga., Saturday morning. He will return Monday.

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Drop Ninth in Police Scandal

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The Atlanta Georgian

Saturday, July 5, 1913

Charges Preferred Against Another Patrolman and Suspension Is Near.

Atlanta’s police scandal was revived Saturday by the preferring of charges against another member of the police force. His suspension by Chief of Police James L. Beavers is expected to follow within a few hours.

The subject of the accusations is the ninth policeman involved in the scandal. Chief Beavers would not make public the man’s name until formal order of suspension was made.

The charges against the majority of the policemen are they they frequented the notorious negro resort in the rear of 127 Auburn Avenue and that certain of the men were in the habit of drinking there. The place has no license and one of the officers, against whom there was no evidence of drinking, was charged simply with permitting the place to run without reporting it.

With the preferring of the ninth set of charges came the information that R. A. Wood, the policeman who tendered his resignation as soon as the story of his alleged visits to the resort was made public, had sold all his household belongings and moved from the city.

Officers who went to serve notice of the trial before the Police Commission next Tuesday night were met with the information that he had moved with his family to Texas.

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The Atlanta Georgian, July 5th 1913, “Drop Ninth in Police Scandal,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Lee’s Lawyer Expects Delay in Frank Case

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The Atlanta Journal

Friday, July 4, 1913

State Certain to Fight Chappell’s Effort to Secure Release of Watchman

Bernard L. Chappell, attorney for Newt Lee, the negro night watchman, who found the body of Mary Phagan in the National Pencil factory basement, declares that Saturday he will bring habeas corpus proceedings to secure the release of his client.

According to the attorney, the negro is being held on the recommendation of the coroner’s jury, which concluded its inquest before James Conley figured in the case. The grand jury has failed to act on Lee’s case, and Attorney Chappell says that he is going to make efforts to secure the negro’s release.

When the habeas corpus proceedings are commenced the state is certain to make a fight to prevent the negro’s release from the Tower on the ground that he is a material witness.

Attorney Chappell states that he has decided to bring the habeas corpus proceedings because he does not believe that the case of Leo M. Frank will actually come to trial on July 28, when it has been set by Judge L. S. Roan, of the superior court.

There are many ways in which such a case may be postponed indefinitely, Lee’s attorney says, and he is not going to allow his client to stay in jail for an indefinite period if he can help it.

As a result, he says he is fully determined to take the legal steps Saturday to secure the negro’s release.

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The Atlanta Journal, July 4th 1913, “Lee’s Lawyer Expects Delay in Frank Case,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Lee’s Attorney Seeks to Gain His Release

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The Atlanta Journal

Friday, July 4, 1913

It was reported Thursday morning that Bernard L. Chappell, attorney for New [sic] Lee, the negro watchman held in connection with the Mary Phagan case, would take steps to release him from jail by swearing out a writ of habeas corpus.

Attorney Chappell is said to have come to the conclusion that Lee knew nothing about the case other than finding the body and that the state has no right to hold him.

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The Atlanta Journal, July 4th 1913, “Lee’s Attorney Seeks to Gain His Release,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

New Testimony Lays Crime to Conley

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The Atlanta Georgian

Friday, July 4, 1913

Frank Defense Locates Witness Who Points to the Negro Sweeper as Slayer.

A new witness, said to have the most damaging evidence yet produced against Jim Conley, the negro sweeper in the National Pencil factory, entered the Phagan case Thursday and made an affidavit, the contents fo [sic] which are carefully guarded by attorneys for Leo M. Frank, charged with causing the death of the factory girl.

The identity of the witness is as much a secret as the exact nature of his testimony. It was learned, though, that the affidavit was made in the law office of Joseph Leavitt in the Grant Building and was witnessed by Mr. Leavitt’s stenographer.

It is said the testimony of this man connects Conley more directly with the crime than any other statement or affidavit yet procured by the defense. The witness is understood to have seen Conley on the afternoon of the crime and to have heard him make remarks in his drunken condition which were extremely incriminating. Continue Reading →

Effort Will Be Made to Free Newt Lee

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The Atlanta Constitution

Friday, July 4, 1913

Attorney Chappell Declares Belief That Lee Has No Knowledge of Guilty Parties.

An early effort is likely to be made to free Newt Lee, the negro night watchman who discovered the body of Mary Phagan, and who has since been held for suspected complicity in the crime.

This is intimated in a statement issued by the negro’s counsel, Bernard L. Chappell, who says he has arrived at the conclusion that his client knows absolutely nothing about the murder, except his grewsome discovery.

Lee was not indicted, although his name was submitted before the grand jury at the same time action was taken against Leo Frank. No amount of cross-examination can break his story in any respect, and he has told the same straightforward tale throughout imprisonment.

Attorney Chappell hinted that he would institute habeas corpus proceedings in the attempt to liberate the watchman.

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The Atlanta Constitution, July 4th 1913, “Effort Will Be Made to Free Newt Lee,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Police Chief to Probe Vice Protection Charge

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The Atlanta Journal

Thursday, July 3, 1913

Beavers Stirred by Details Reported by Physician—Assigns Men to Report

Following the charges of a prominent Atlanta physician regarding vice conditions and alleged police protection in this city, Chief of Police Beavers despatched an officer to confer with this physician Thursday morning.

The officer will endeavor to obtain even more information than has been furnished the chief and will try to substantiate that already given. He will pay especial attention to the statement of the physician that he reported a disorderly house to the police and that the proprietors of it were “tipped off” by some officer.

Chief Beavers is concerned over this phase of the question. He admits that there must be something in the charges, as the source of his information is reputable.

“It is a grave charge,” he declared Thursday morning. “I am satisfied that Atlanta’s police department is as free of anything like giving protection to vice as any in the United States, yet it is entirely possible that there are some men in it who would ‘graft.’ If there are I want to know more than anyone else, for it is not fair for the department’s reputation as a whole to suffer for what can be traced to a few individuals.”

The alleged disorderly houses reported to the chief are being watched closely, but he said that no evidence against them had been obtained yet.

Sergeant L.S. Dobbs, who has been investigating the locker clubs to see if they had any members of the police departmet [sic] enrolled, has finished his work and reported to the chief that he was unable to find any police members. He said that there are a number of local fraternal organizations with police members, and that these orders have locker club attachments, but that so far as he could learn no policemen were in the habit of using them.

Chief Beavers declared that there was nothing wrong with an officer belonging to a fraternal order, provided he did not use his membership for anything other than fraternal purposes.

Chief of Detectives Lanford declared Thursday morning that he had taken steps to investigate the charges made by the physician that several of his men had been seen drinking in two downtown locker clubs.

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The Atlanta Journal, July 3rd 1913, “Police Chief to Probe Vice Protection Charge,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Writ Sought In Move to Free Negro Lee

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The Atlanta Georgian

Thursday, July 3, 1913

Attorney for Watchman Declares Client Knows Nothing of the Actual Crime.

Bernard L. Chappell, attorney for Newt Lee, negro night watchman at the pencile [sic] factory, held in the Phagan case, stated Thursday morning that he would swear out a writ of habeas corpus for the release of the negro.

Attorney Chappell stated that he had come to the conclusion that there was nothing the negro knew about the crime except finding the body, and that the State had no right to keep him without some charge or as a material witness.

Lee was the first suspect arrested in connection with Mary Phagan’s murder. He was ordered held by the Coroner, but when a bill of indictment was offered the Grand Jury at the same time of the Frank indictment, no action was taken against the negro.

Weak Spots in Conley Tale.

Chappell said the writ of habeas corpus would compel the State either to order the negro held as a material witness or make some charge against him.

Conley, in relating his dramatic tale of carrying the body of Mary Phagan from the rear of the second floor and disposing of it at the direction of Frank in a dark corner of the gloomy basement, said that when he reached the elevator he had to wait until Frank went into his office for a key to the elevator door.

The defense will maintain, it is understood, that the elevator door had not been locked for some time. Witnesses will be called to testify that the door had remained unlocked in accordance with instructions from the firms with which the building was insured. From this alleged circumstance, it will be argued that the negro’s story is a fabrication devised to shield himself from the charge of murder and to shift the responsibility onto another man.

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Attempt by Colyar To Disbar Felder Is Halted; Tries Again

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The Atlanta Georgian

Thursday, July 3, 1913

A petition filed Tuesday with the Clerk of the Superior Court by A. S. Colyar, Jr., asking for the disbarment of Colonel Thomas B. Felder from the practice of law in Georgia, has been withdrawn by Colyar on information that he first must submit his petition to the court for the determination of whether his grounds are sufficient to warrant an investigation and trial by jury.

Colyar said Wednesday he would apply for a rule nisi. Until this is done there can be no action on his petition. The petition includes as reasons for the disbarment of Colonel Felder the alleged irregular practices of which Colyar accused Colonel Felder in the sensational dictograph conversations furnished by Colyar to the police.

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The Atlanta Georgian, July 3rd 1913, “Attempt by Colyar To Disbar Felder Is Halted; Tries Again,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Leo Frank Answers List of Questions Bearing on Points Made Against Him

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The Atlanta Constitution

Monday, March 9, 1914

Stated That He Was Willing to Reply to Any Questions That Might Be in the Mind of the Public, and Asked to Answer Any Such That Might Be Propounded to Him.

TELLS HOW JIM CONLEY COULD HAVE SLAIN GIRL AND ESCAPED DETECTION

Asserts That Very Fact That He Admitted He Had Seen Mary Phagan on the Day of the Murder, Thus Placing Himself Under Suspicion, Was Proof in Itself That He Was Innocent of Crime.

Probably the most interesting statement yet issued by Leo M. Frank in connection with the murder for which he has been sentenced to hang, is one that he has furnished to The Constitution in the form of a series of answers to questions which were propounded to him bearing on the case.

These questions were prepared by a representative of The Constitution who visited Frank at the Tower last week.

“Ask me any questions you wish,” Frank told the reporter.

In accordance with that, the reporter wrote out a list of questions which, he asserted, comprised the most salient points the prosecution had brought out against him, and to each of these Frank has given an answer.

Here Are Questions.

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Findings in Probe are Guarded

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The Atlanta Georgian

Wednesday, July 2, 1913

No Indication Given of Results of Investigation of Reports of Disorderly Houses.

The result of the Grand Jury’s sensational vice probe of a few weeks ago will be made known Wednesday when the presentments are returned to Superior Judge W. D. Ellis, who two months ago charged that an extensive investigation be made.

Save when an indictment was returned against Police Commissioner W. P. Fain, which charged him with keeping a disorderly house and beating one of the women inmates, no inkling of the general trend of the probe got beyond the closed doors of the jury room.

When the probe first started the jury expected it to be completed in a day. It took a sensational turn when Colonel Thomas B. Felder charged Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford and his detectives with openly protecting vice, and the attorney stated he could submit to the jury a “vice list” that would “stand Atlanta on its head.”

List Given to Jury.

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Facts Do Not Indicate Indictment of Conley

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The Atlanta Journal

Tuesday, July 1, 1913

Rumor About Negro in Phagan Case Not Confirmed—Grand Jury Is Through

The publication to the effect that the negro sweeper, Jim Conley, probably would be indicted by the Fulton county grand jury for the murder of Mary Phagan, is apparently without any justification.

The grand jury, according to its foreman, Lewis H. Beck, will make its presentments to the court Wednesday morning and in all probability will be discharged then.

It is not likely, therefore, that the jury will consider any further bills. Mr. Beck declined to comment on the publication and referred the reporter to the solicitor.

As Solicitor Dorsey is known to be opposed to an indictment of Conley at this time, there seems to be no basis for the report that the case will be taken up.

Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey vigorously asserted Tuesday afternoon that no attempt had been made by the grand jury toin dict [sic] the negro Conely [sic] for the murder of Mary Phagan nor had any suggestion been made by the jurymen in this direction.

He said positively that he had heard of no intention on the part of jurors to go over his head in the Conley matter.

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The Atlanta Journal, July 1st 1913, “Facts Do Not Indicate Indictment of Conley,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)