Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-07-06

been inconsistent, conflicting and
unreasonable.
(15) II the negroes presence in
the factory had been known at the
time Frank was indicted, Frank
likely never would have been in
dicted; or, at least. would not like
" have been indicted in preference
to the negro.
(t6) That the motive in the case
Of Frank never has been establish
ed and will be difficult to establish,
but that the motive in the case of
tho negro. e., robbery-is i'm
mediately apparent.
(t7 That the entire factory force
testifies to the good character of
Frank, whereas the character OF the
negro, both by his own admissions
and the police court records, is bad.
(1S) That many of the horrible
details of the murder, scattered
broadcast when it was first effected,
are not true, and that the cireum-
stances Of the crime point to the
negro Conley as its perpetrator,
much more surely than to Frank.
Now, the reader must under
stand that which l have tried to
impress upon him in every article
/ heretofore nave written duOuL lllF
Phagan case, to wit: | know moth
ing more about the POSITIVE
TRUTH of the case than he does
that is to say, my sources of in
formation have been precisely the
same sources that his have been
the newspapers.
! have sCrutiniZed the files of The
Georgian and The American and
other Atlanta papers, and the fore
going eighteen counts against Con-
ley | have gathered together from
perhaps fifty different issues.
Framework is Powerful.
have set them forth as show
ing the strength of the position of
those-or the imaginary strength,
whichever 1t is-invOking the in
dictment of Conley NOW.
They may be of tremendous sig
nificance-they may be of no ma
terial significance But they DO
serve to show the framework of the
powerful defense that is being con-
structed for Frank.
l give them for what they are
worth.
There stands between Conley and
Grand Jury indictment, of course,
the compelling necessity of using
Conley as a material witness-THE
material witness, indeed!-against
Frank.
To indict Conley NOW would
weaken the States case against
Frank, unquesuonably.
And yet the fact remains that GER
tain members of the Grand Jury
have been reported as seriously in
clined to that course, nevertheless.
And, after all, that matter (the-
oretically, anyway is utterly I'M
personal with the Grand Jury and
arbitrarily In its hands.
Before / became newspaper
man and later along police report
er. | studied law, as | mentioned
before. and was admitted to the
bar | practiced four years, and
while | abandoned the law long ago
for the newspaper profession, l new
err lost my taste entirely for my
first love.
went over to the State Library
Saturday and looked up some few
decisions bearing upon the two vi
tai points to be raised in the Pha-
gan case. as | view il now. and two
things impressed me profoundly.
State Can Not Attack Frank.
When the defense attacks Conley
it will be backed by some weighty
law affecting his credibility and
when II puts Franks character in
evidence-the State CAN NOT put
his character in evidence. il will be
understood-it viii be backed again
by some weighty opinions as TO the
value of character. established and
proved.
In the Twenty-third Georgia Su-
preme Court Reports l find that
Mr.. Justice Mcdonald laid down
this rule:
If a witness swear willfulIy and
knowingly false. even to a COL
lateral fact, his testimony ought
to be re iected entirely, unless il be
so corroborated by circumstances,
or other uninapeached evidence, as
be irresistible!
That is the law of the land, and
it will be invoked, l suppose, against
Conley, with vigor and possible eff
feet.
The defense. no doubt, will con-
tend that Conley has sworn falsely
and proved il by written instru-
ments-and it then will insist that
Conley's entire evidence must be
rejected unless zorro by 9TH
er unimpeached testimony.
Can the State Corroborate Con-
ley by such evidence?
Evidently the defense doubts it.
do not know. of course.
Hearsay. irrelevant matter,
street gossip, newspaper stories
those things will not do when II
comes to trying Leo Frank for his
life.
Coniey Must Be corrobcrated.
Conley. at best an admitted &C
Cessory after the fact Of the muir
DER. must he CorroboEated by COM
PETENT and LEGAL evidence
And right here, l think, the de-