Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-23
CONLEY GOES To
TR|AL;FRANK'S
PLEA READY
New Affidayits Considered Great
Aid to Doomed Man-Lay Plans
for Extraordinary Motion.
Continued From Page I,

declines 10 reopen the case, and VIII
be based upon the following PoII4's'
Wholesale charges of conspira-
cv between detectives and wit
nesses.
DR. Roy Harris assertion that
the hair found on The lathe in the
metal room of the pencil factory
did not come from the head OF
Mary Phagan.
The alleged concealing by So
licitor Dorsey Of DR.. Harris
knowledge.
Affidavits Charge Coercion.
The Albert Mcknight affidavit,
in which Roy Craven is charged
with coercing the negro to make
statements damaging to FRANKS
case.
Afidavits alleging that detec-
tives coerced Witnesses to testi-
flying against Frank.
An affidavit from Mrs. Nina
Formby. alleging that she was
forced by detectives to make
damaging statements against
Frank.
Besides these six grounds upon
which TO base a motion for an eX-
traordinary appeal. it is understood
that the defense has number OF at
fd9yits from girls and women who
testified that Franks general charac-
ter was bad, in which they reverse
their testimony and declare that they
were told 10 testify as they did. These
women. it is said, have furnished the
defense with entirely new evidence
which will be incorporated in the mo-
ton.
Woman Now Denies Story.
The affidavit alleged to have been
made by Mrs Pormby is the latest
development in the case. It is un-
derstood to have been secured by {.
w Burke, a private detective at
tached to Mr. Rosser's office, who
obtained the affidavit from Albert
Mcknight Saturday attacking Roy
Craven The womans latest ptii-
davit it is intimated by the defense.
declares that her previous statements
made to Chief Beavers and Chief
Lanford are untrue and that she was
forced to make them by detectives
who threatened her with arrest and
expulsion from the city
The original affidavit of Mrs. Form
by. made before Chief Beavers, Chief
Lanford, and Solicitor Dorsey, Judge
l3royles and Sidney ]. Coogler, stat
ed that shortly before o'clock on
The evening of the murder of Mary
Phagan. Leo Frank called her on the
telephone and asked her if he could
bring a girl to her apartments on
Piedmont avenue. She stated that
Frank had been there before with
women, but that this time she refused
to let him come on pretense that she
was going TO leave her apartments
for an automobile ride and would not
be at home.
Little Credence Given Tale.
The police from the start placed
little dependence upon Mrs. Formbys
affidavit. and she was never called to
the witness stand. Police declared
that her record is bad and that she
had been the keeper of a disreputable
resort.
The defense attaches considerable
Importance to the affidavit made Sat
urday by Albert Mcknight, who
branded as false his previous affidavit
declaring that he had seen Frank on
the day of the murder, and that his
wife, Minola Mcknight, had told him
of Franks actions on the night fol-
lowing the murder.
Mcknight asserts. in his late aft
davit, that his statements damaging
to Frank were made at the request of
a white man employed by the Beck
& Gregg Hardware Company, and
that they were the result of a con-
spiracy to obtain the reward offered
for the arrest and conviction of the
murderer Of the little girl.