Wednesday, 29th April 1914: Dorsey May Ask For Earlier Date, The Atlanta Constitution

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Solicitor Will Insist That the Ragsdale and Barber Affidavits Remain a Part of the Record. Having announced that he is amply prepared to combat the amendments to the motion for a new trial by Frank's attorneys, Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey, in all probability, will go before Judge Ben Hill today and make the startling request that Judge Hill reconvene the retrial hearing Thursday morning, a day earlier than set. When attorneys for Frank's defense last Friday presented to Judge Hill the affidavits of Rev. C. B. Ragsdale and Anna Maud Carter, who testified that Conley had confessed to Mary Phagan's murder, Solicitor Dorsey asked that the hearing be postponed in order to give the prosecution time to prepare a counter showing.

The postponement was effected, and the reconvention date set for Friday of this week. Since that time, Ragsdale has repudiated his affidavit, declaring that his story was a "frame-up," and R. L. Barber, whose affidavit corroborated Rev. Ragsdale, has made a similar confession, saying his story was "molded." Whether or not there have been any such developments in the story of Anna Maud Carter, the Negro woman who says Conley made a complete confession to her, neither Solicitor Dorsey nor any of his staff would say yesterday afternoon. They declare, however, that they are well-equipped to combat this evidence of the defense.

Another interesting fact that came to light Tuesday afternoon was the prospect of Solicitor Dorsey making an insistent request of Judge Ben Hill to revoke his action in expunging the Ragsdale and Barber Affidavits from the testimony presented by the defense in its retrial motion. It was said by members of Dorsey's staff yesterday afternoon that the solicitor had been making an investigation on the Chicago "Angles" of the Frank case which Detective Burns and his men had been investigating. It is said that the results of these out-of-town inquiries by Dorsey resulted in sensational disclosures which will be produced at the hearing tomorrow.

Frank's attorneys yesterday had Judge Ben Hill eradicate that part of the amendment of the retrial motion which had to do with the affidavits of the Rev. Ragsdale and R. L. Barber. The order was granted, and it will likely be the nucleus of a fight to be waged by the solicitor, who will seek to have it revoked, so that he will be able to make his counter showing. Attorneys for Frank, as was announced in their statement published in Tuesday morning's Constitution, denounce Ragsdale and Barber "with all the vehemence of their natures." They declare they were misled by the two men, and took their testimony with all confidence in both affiants. They were given numerous affidavits from responsible citizens, among them Dr. John E. White, who vouched for the character of both Ragsdale and Barber.

In explanation of his connection with the Rev. C. B. Ragsdale phase of the Frank case, Dr. John E. White, pastor of the Second Baptist Church, last night told a reporter of The Constitution that he had been asked to vouch for the minister's character by a detective from the Burns agency. "I was visited in my office," he said, "by a young man, who told me he was a detective from the Burns agency, who had been waiting for my arrival. He said he had come to inquire into the character of a Baptist minister, and asked me if I knew the Rev. C. B. Ragsdale. He asked me if Rev. Ragsdale was a good man, and if I would believe him on oath. I answered in the affirmative. I was then asked if I would make an affidavit to that effect. I called up Rev. B. P. Robertson, who is more intimately associated with Ragsdale than I, being superintendent of the Mission Board of the Atlanta Baptists. I asked Rev. Robertson if he had ever heard anything contrary to Ragsdale's character. He replied that Ragsdale was pastor of the Plum Street Church, and that he was in good standing. I then made the affidavit expressing my confidence in the man's character. I had no intimation of the nature of Ragsdale's testimony."