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

Atlanta Constitution
August 7^th, 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 the noon recess Wednesday, after he had heard lengthy argument on both sides, Judge Roan reversed his decision of the day previous thereby admitting as evidence the statements of Jim Conley that on numerous occasions he had acted as “lookout” for Leo M. Frank while he was engaged with women on the second floor of the National Pencil factory, the state and Solicitor Dorsey won a victory which was perfectly patent to every one in the court room, and the news was quick to reach the street and to be circulated by word of mouth all over the city.

As soon as Judge Roan announced his decision spontaneous applause broke out in the court room and Reuben Arnold jumped to his feet, exclaiming:

“If that happens again I shall move for a mistrial.”

Judge Roan announced that he would have to clear the room if there was a recurrence of the disorder.

Interest at Keen Pitch.

At no single stage of the long drawn-out trial has interest been so keen as when Judge Roan announced on Tuesday that he would reverse his decision on the admissibility of this evidence until Wednesday morning. The evidence was of such an important nature and its introduction came as such a complete surprise that it was the sole topic of conversation all day Monday and Tuesday. When Conley had blandly told of the occurrences which would seem to indicate a course of conduct on the part of the defendant which would throw light on the crime, and stamp him as apart from other men, there was profound surprise in the court room that the astute attorneys for the defense did not strenuously object.

But on second thought the impression seemed to be that Mr. Rosser and Mr. Arnold, confident they could break the negro down, were opening wide the bars and were giving Conley all the rope necessary to hang himself.

As hour by hour the attorneys for the defense hammered away and failed to entrap the negro the enormity of the evidence became apparent.

Finally, came the virtual confession of the defense that they had failed to break the negro down and they asked that the evidence be stricken from the records.

All over the city the news spread that the negro had withstood the fire and that Frank’s attorneys were seeking to have the evidence expunged from the records.

“Would Judge Roan rule for the state or for the defense?” This was the question which was asked by every one of his neighbor. Would other witnesses be allowed to go on the stand and corroborate the damaging statements made by Conley? Would the state be allowed to still further press the advantage it had made or would it have to close deprived of this evidence?

The air was full of doubt and uncertainty.

Judge Roan by a few words changed all this up.

Jim Conley Finishes.

Jim Conley, after remaining on the stand sixteen hours, was allowed to leave the court room at 11 o’clock Wednesday morning. He stated that he was feeling fine and his appearance would not seem to indicate that he was fatigued in the least by the long ordeal through which he had passed. The defense had failed utterly to shake him on any material point of his story.

Mesh Bag in Safe.

The big thing developed by his examination Wednesday was the statement that he had seen Frank place Mary Phagan’s silver mesh bag in the safe in his office. Up to this time what had become of the mesh bag was a mystery. Jim Conley had not mentioned anything about it before, and it had been thought that the finding of the purse would go largely toward solving the mystery of the murder. Newt Lee’s house had been searched for it and Conley’s home had been ransacked in vain.

Refused to See Conley.

By the introduction of Sheriff Mangum the state managed to prove, over the protest of the defense, that Frank had refused to see Conley when he had been brought to the jail by Chief Beavers, Chief Lanford and others.

The state also endeavored to show by the testimony of Mrs. John R. White that, although Frank knew Conley was in the building on the day of the murder, the city detectives did not get this information until May 7, when Detective Rosser went out to see Mrs. White.

Dr. Harris On the Stand.

Dr. Roy Harris, whose testimony last week was to the effect that Mary Phagan must have met her death within three-quarters of an hour after she had eaten cabbage and bread for breakfast, again took the stand Wednesday and resumed the testimony which had been interrupted by his illness.

Dr. Harris described the microscopic examination he had made of Mary Phagan’s stomach and gave much additional information to prove that the little girl had been killed shortly after eating. He explained that hydrochloric acid had not had time to form and that the pancreatic juices were not present.

He told of having had Mrs. J. W. Coleman, mother of the dead child, prepare some cabbage just as she had cooked it for her daughter on the last day of her life, and of the experiments he had made on several persons, one of whom was Mary Phagan’s exact age.

The whole purpose of Dr. Harris’ testimony was to show that ever if not properly masticated the acids and juices of the stomach will make certain changes on food within a certain length of time.

He also testified as to the condition of the organs of the girl to show that violence of some sort had been done her.

Both Luther Rosser and Reuben Arnold cross-questioned Dr. Harris, but failed to develop anything of material benefit to the defense. It was plain to see that the defense is working on the theory that the child was killed at a later hour than the state hopes to prove.

Dr. Harris was extremely weak and asked to be relieved of further testimony until today. He will be placed on the stand again this morning.

Sensation Is Expected.

Following Dr. Harris, C. B. Dalton will be placed on the stand by the state. He is the man referred to by Conley as having visited the pencil factory on one of the days when Conley says he was “watching out” for Frank. His testimony is expected to prove sensational in the extreme. Other corroborative witnesses will follow Dalton.

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Atlanta Constitution, August 7th 1913, “Spontaneous Applause Greets Dorsey’s Victory,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Georgian
August 7^th, 1913

Judge Roan administered a severe blow to the defense Wednesday when he ruled that all of Conley’s story should stand, although portions of it, he acknowledged, would have been inadmissible had objection been made at the time the testimony was offered.

Judge to Rule as Case Proceeds.

It was a particularly difficult allegation to combat. Unlike many allegations, it was exactly as hard to fight in the event it was false as in case it was founded on fact.

Judge Roan said in regard to the testimony of Dalton that he did not know what it was to be and that he would allow it to be presented so that he might rule on its admissibility as it came up.

Solicitor Dorsey put the final rivet in his case so far as it rested upon the testimony of Conley when at the close of his redirect examination of the negro he brought to light the State’s theory of the disposition that had been made of the Phagan girl’s mesh bag.

Practically no mention of the mesh bag had been made during the week and a half of the trial. The only reference made to it was in the examination of Mrs. J. W. Coleman, mother of the slain girl, and of the officers who visited the scene of the crime immediately after police headquarters was called by the negro nightwatchman, Newt Lee.

Tells of Mesh Bag.

Mrs. Coleman testified that Mary left home with the mesh bag in her hand. The detectives and policemen all testified that they were able to find no trace of it either the morning after the crime or in the search that had been conducted since then.

“Did you ever see the murdered girl’s mesh bag?” Dorsey asked Conley, just as it appeared that he had finished his questioning.

“Yes, sah, I see it,” Conley replied.

“Where was it?”
“It was right on Mr. Frank’s desk when I went in there to write the notes.”

“Did you see what became of it?”
“Yes, sah; Mr. Frank went and put it in his safe.”

Conley left the stand at 11:10 o’clock still sticking to his charge that Leo Frank killed the Phagan girl and that at Frank’s direction, he (Conley) assisted in the disposal of the body. He had been on the stand fifteen and one-half hours and under the grilling cross-examination of Luther Rosser for more than thirteen hours.

Practically the only addition he made to his story as it appeared in his direct examination was his declaration that while he was writing the murder notes Frank took the pencil out of his hand and then an instant later made him rub out the “s” he had written as he spelled out “negros.” Conley said he wrote the note at first:

“A long tall black negros did this by hisself.”

A long argument over the admissibility of Conley’s testimony in regard to Frank’s alleged conduct with women previous to the murder of Mary Phagan took place after the jury had been sent from the courtroom at noon. Court recessed before the arguments were concluded, and the debate was resumed in the afternoon.

Reuben Arnold cited opinions from courts in State’s from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but his arguments were unavailing and the decision went against the defense. There was a murmur of applause and a stamping of feet.

Arnold instantly was on his feet with a motion for a mistrial, but he realized at once that the jury was not present and withdrew the motion. He threatened, however, to make a motion that the courtroom be cleared if such a demonstration occurred again.

Dr. Harris Recalled.

Dr. Harris was recalled to complete the testimony which he was giving when he collapsed on the stand the Friday before. He repeated his assertion as to the time Mary Phagan came to her death after eating dinner at her home in Bellwood Saturday shortly before noon.

“I can say with almost absolute certainty,” he declared, “that this little girl was killed within 30 or 40 minutes after she ate her meal that day.”

He refused, under cross-examination, to change his testimony in the least in respect to the cause of death.

“It was easily apparent that strangulation was the cause,” he declared.

“An examination of the lungs was unnecessary and even useless because of the embalming preparation that had been employed. It was plainly evident that the rope had been placed about the girl’s neck before death and the deep indentation showed that it was sufficient to choke off her breath and cause death within a brief time.”

Blow Not Fatal, He Says.

Although Arnold was unable to make the physician after the statement of his opinion, he obtained an admission that a blow on the head sufficient to cause death might immediately precede garroting and still the same manifestations of strangulation exist.

Dr. Harris, however, did not believe that the blow on Mary Phagan’s head was enough to cause death. He said that the blow was not severe and that aside from a little spot of blood on the brain which could not have caused any pressure, the brain was entirely normal.

Attorney Arnold in the latter part of the afternoon session engaged in an exhaustive and highly technical examination of the witness in regard to the action of the digestive juices, the percentages that were present in Mary Phagan’s stomach and the tests that were made for poisons.

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Atlanta Georgian, August 7th 1913, “Roan’s Ruling Heavy Blow to Defense,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

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

Atlanta Journal

Sunday, June 1^st, 1913

Chief of Detectives Gives Out Statement Relative to Transfer of Prisoner From the Tower to Headquarters

FURTHER QUESTIONING IS PLANNED BY DETECTIVES

No Arrangement Yet Made for Negro to Confront Frank—Report of Finding Girl’s Purse Proves Without Foundation

The prosecuting officials connected with the Phagan case all denied Saturday evening that the state’s theory of the murder has been changed by anything that the negro sweeper Conley has said, but the fact that the negro was transferred t police headquarters, where he can be freely examined by the detectives, seems to show that the officials are not fully satisfied with Conley’s story of the crime as it now stands.

Conley was permitted to leave the jail on an order signed by Judge L. S. Roan, of the superior court. Conley was perfectly willing to accompany the officers anywhere they desired to take him.

From the jail he was carried by Deputy Newt Garner to the solicitor’s office, and it is said that only after the solicitor had talked with the negro two hours and gone over all of the “rough places in the story” was the decision to take him to police headquarters, rather than the jail reached.

REASON FOR TRANSFER.

Two reasons are assigned by Detective Chief N. A. Lanford for the removal of Conley from the Fultin [sic] county jail back to the state cell in police headquarters, where he was imprisoned for more than three weeks.

The first, according to the chief, is that Conley requested that he be transferred back, stating in explanation or his request that he was greatly annoyed Friday night by persons who came to visit in the tower.

A second reason advanced by the chief is that the detectives themselves prefer to have Conley at police headquarters where he will be easily accessible at any time they desire to further interview him in regard to the Phagan murder.

“There is so much red tape at the jail concerning the admission of officers to see prisoners,” said the chief. “We wanted Conley where we could get to him at any time we thought advisable.”

Chief Lanford says he reported to Police Chief Beavers what Conley had said and the latter then went before Judge L. S. Roan and obtained the order for the transfer.

Conley still maintains that he is ready and anxious to face Leo M. Frank, superintendent of the National Pencil factory, with his accusations.

The detectives and other state authorities are also endeavoring to bring the two principal figures in the murder mystery together in order that they may watch the demeanor of the two men, when the negro sweeper accuses the factory superintendent of being the slayer of Mary Phagan.

MUST GET CONSENT.

The detectives will be unable to stage the dramatic meeting without the consent of Frank’s attorney, Luther Z. Rosser, however, and there is little probability of his going into the matter before Monday.

It was rumored efforts might be made to transfer Frank to police headquarters, where he would be under the jurisdiction of the city authorities and not the sheriff, but the rumor is groundless.

Solicitor Dorsey refuses to comment on the statement of Conley as made to him in a two hours’ conference at his office Saturday.

CLOSELY EXAMINED.

It is understood that the solicitor vigorously cross-examined Conley, and made the negro go into the most minute detail on every point in the case. The negro is said to have made no important variations from the story he told the detectives Thursday, and the story he recounted with illustrations, when he was carried to the scene of the tragedy on Friday afternoon.

Chief of Police J. L. Beavers, who heard Conley’s recital of his part in the tragedy at the pencil factory, was present at the examination before Solicitor Dorsey, and together the officials looked for flaws and “rough places” in the story.

Conley’s admission that he was an accessory after the fact of the crime has naturally made him the principal witness in the case, and the detectives are making every effort to secure corroborative statements, which bear even on the seemingly unimportant points of his sensational recital.

Detectives Campbell and Starnes were present at the latter part of the negro’s examination by Chief Beavers and the solicitor, and they, it is said, will work towards securing evidence of a co[r]roborating nature.

Attorney William M. Smith has been requested by relatives of Conley to look after the negro’s interests, and he was admitted to the conference for a short time.

Mr. Smith made no objection to the transfer of the negro to police headquarters and says that he is willing for Conley to remain there as long as the detectives desire to keep him.

He is also desirous of bringing about the meeting of Conley and the man he accuses of the crime.

MESH BAG STILL MISSING.

Persistent rumor that the missing mesh bag, said to have been carried by Mary Phagan on the day she met her death, and been located by the police, was silenced late Saturday night when Detective Hollingsworth asserted that the bag pawned by a negro Wednesday and thought, at first to have been the Phagan girl’s, had been identified as the property of another.

The negro pawned the purse with Barney Morris, 92 Decatur street, and the latter instantly became suspicious. As a result the negro was quizzed, but proved conclusively that the bag had been given to him by a woman for whom he worked.

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Atlanta Journal, June 1st 1913, “Lanford Tells Why Conley Was Placed in Police Station,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)