Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-07-20
ATTORNEY FOR
CONLEY MAKES
A STATEMENT
"Not Necessary to lndict Negro
to Close His Mouth" De-
cIareS William Smith.

William NJ. Smith, attorney for jim
Conley, the negro now being held as
a material witness in the Phagan
murder case and whose indictment
for completely in the crime will be
considered by the Grand Jury Mon
day, brought to the Office of The Sun
day American Saturday night state
ment in behalf Of his client.
In a letter accompanying the state
ment, Mr., Smith conveyed doubt
as to whether this newspaper would
print what he had to say.
The attorneys statement in full
follows:
The Grand Jury list published
showed the names Of some men
whom l know, and know they are
on the square, and, if they once
understand the real situation,
there will be a bear fight before
Jim Conley is indicted at this time
or course it would be great work
if the State could be forced to so
indict Conley as to make his testi-
mony legally inadmissible against
Frank What a beautiful technical
advantage for the Grand Jury to
work to close Conleys mouth
against Frank
Code of Georgia, section 1898:
Confessions of Conspirators. The
confession of one Joint offender or
conspirator, made after the enter
prise is ended, is admissible only
against himself"
How long would the good people
of this county stand for such legal
1usglery to save a brutal murderer
from the gallOws? It is right that
both men shall talk The Grand
Jury can name Conley as a joint
offender or Conspirator. they can
give him legal status" which we
have heard so much howl about
for the last few days, and save
Frank from the embarrassment Of
having to face Conley, even when
he is tried. The Grand Jury may
know more about what is legally
proper to do in this matter than
the men who have been PLAYING
this game for a living for years, but
they had better move slow. We
have been studying the principles
underlying this fight for months,
and they are fresh hands, Just on
1AHt J'b A'i a lew udNE =.
1t is not necessary to indict Con-
ley to close his mouth | can close
1t and help Frank to go free and
then Mr.. Mincey and others Of his
type can be run off by the friends
OF Mr.. Frank, and be inaccessible
as witnesses when Conley Is tried,
and then COnley can go free. This
could be done, but it won't be- I'm
less they get me fired from my rep
resentation of Conley, and unless
the Grand Jury fixes his legal
status" so he can't swear, Conley
will answer the roll call as a wit
ness and tell the whole truth as he
knows 1t. It IS evident that trade
whereby Conley would close his
mouth would be advantageous to
both. With Mr.. Mincsy and others
non est inventus, as l imagine they
will be II they are not held after
swearing, by some process, COnley
could not possibly be convicted Of
numbering the girl himself, and
with Frank free Conley could not
even be indicted and punished as
an accessory after the fact. Such
trade might even be made inter-
esting to Conley's lawyer, from a
financial viewpoint. In fact, every
body but society and the admins
tration of justice would be helped
We are not looking for trades,
Let everybody tell the whole truth,
rs they see it, and then let justice
take its full course, unhampered by
ringers or other influences. perme-
ating either the grand or petit tu-
ries Of this county When this Is
done, the fendish murder of Mary
Phagan will be avenged and the
civic conscience of our good people
satisfied.
WILLIAM NJ. SMITH.