Wednesday, 17th September 1913 Conley To Fight Felon Charge Bitterly

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The Atlanta Georgian,

Wednesday, 17th September 1913.

PAGE 6, COLUMN 5

Attorney Will Permit Him to Plead

Guilty Only to Misdemeanor,

Judge Sought.

Jim Conley's trial on a felony charge as accessory after the fact in the murder of Mary Phagan will be strongly combated by his attorney, William M. Smith, according to an announcement made Tuesday.

It is the contention that Conley, on the State's own theory of the crime, is guilty of nothing more than a misdemeanor, and that he can not be tried for a crime of which he is not accused.

Two indictments were drawn against the negro at the last session of the Grand Jury. One charged him with a misdemeanor and the other with a felony. A nice point of law has arisen on the felony indictment, the Georgia statutes providing that an accessory after the fact, to be liable to punishment as a felon, must have "hidden, harbored or concealed" the person guilty of the capital crime, as well as to have withheld the information of the crime from the officers.

Fight Centers on One Word.

If an attempt is made to try Conley on the felony charge, a legal fight will ensue on the interpretation of the word "conceal." The State will contend that it has a broad meaning, which includes assisting the culprit to escape and concealing his identity from the authorities. This, the Prosecutor will contend, admittedly was done by Conley when he shielded Frank for several weeks.

Conley's attorney on the other hand, will insist that the law be interpreted with the strictest literalness. Legal citations will be made to show that "conceal" in the statutes means nothing else than hiding or harboring the person of the guilty man. This, the negro's lawyers will insist, Conley did not do.

Case May Come Up September 29, 1913.

Conley will be allowed to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge and nothing more. The carrying of the girl's body to the basement was a part of the negro's action in withholding knowledge of the crime from the officers, and did not in itself constitute a felony, it is held.

The negro's case probably will come up the week of September 29, 1913. Solicitor Dorsey has abandoned his attempt to hold court before this time. He hopes to be able to get a judge, either from the Fulton Superior Court or an outside circuit, to preside. Judge Ben H. Hill, the newly appointed judge to the Atlanta Circuit, will not take up his duties before October 6, and it may be a week or two later than this.

PAGE 8, COLUMN 1

Watson Trial Set for

Early Part of October

SAVANNAH, Sept. 17 The case of Thomas E. Watson, charged, with sending obscene matter through the mails, will be tried before Judge Foster, of the Circuit Court of Appeals at Augusta the second Monday in October, according to Judge William T. Newman, of Atlanta, presiding in the Federal Court here for this term.

Judge Foster, he said, had been named in the place of Judge Emory Speer, and there was little doubt the case would come to trial, as the Judiciary Department was very anxious to have it disposed of.

PAGE 13, COLUMN 1

NEWT LEE GIVEN

A "NO BILL" BY

GRAND JURY

In Record-Breaking Session 18

Indictments, Two Against City

Hall Men, Are Returned.

In a record-breaking session, the Fulton County Grand Jury Tuesday morning returned eighteen true bills and four no bills. The Grand Jury adjourned at noon until Friday morning at 10 o'clock.

Prominent among the indictments Tuesday morning was the return of two true bills against Charles P. Martin, connected with the city waterworks department, who is charged with cursing and beating a negro in his employ, and the indictment of J. Wylie Smith on charges of forgery, preferred by a half dozen witnesses who appeared before the Grand Jury.

No Bill for Newt Lee.

The Grand Jury also returned a "no bill" against Newt Lee, charged with the murder of Mary Phagan, the little pencil factory girl, for which Leo Frank is under sentence of death. The return of the "no bill" Tuesday morning eliminates Newt Lee from all connection with the murder.

Charles P. Martin was indicted on two counts charging assault and battery and a misdemeanor on Jim Briscoe, a negro employed at the City-Hall. Bond was fixed at $100 in each case.

Jackson Case Held Up.

The indictment of Martin reveals an interesting incident which stirred City Hall circles last week. Martin who is an inspector in the waterworks department, it is alleged invited the negro Briscoe, who is commonly known at the City Hall as "Shamrock" down into the basement where, it is said, he proceeded to give him a beating with a cowhide as the result of alleged statements made by "Shamrock," who had declared that Martin had taken some paper from a section of the City Hall. Zode Smith, General Manger of the department, it is said, was present at the cowhiding.

The Grand Jury failed to act on the Partee-Jackson case because of the absence of important witnesses. Partee, a railroad engineer, is charged with killing Sam Jackson, a fellow railroad engineer, last July.

PAGE 20, COLUMN 5

VETERANS DONATE

FOR PHAGAN SHAFT

Marietta Camp, Joins Trainmen

in Plan to Erect and Unveil

Monument Memorial Day.

The members of the United Confederate Veterans, Camp No. 763, of Marietta, Ga., have joined with the Atlanta Lodge, No. 270, Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, in the movement to raise funds for the erection of a monument to Mary Phagan, who was murdered in the National Pencil Factory on April 26, 1913.

At the last meeting of the camp the veterans voted unanimously to take $5 from the camp treasury and devote it to the fund and a sum of 25 cents was assessed against each member. Forty dollars was raised in less than an hour. George S. Owen, a member of the famous Eighteenth Georgia Regiment, was named treasurer of the fund, and authorized to accept donations.

Expressing the willingness of the veterans to co-operate with the railroad men in the movement, J. Gid Morris, commander of the Marietta Camp, has issued an appeal to all lodges, organizations, churches, Confederate Veterans' camps and private persons to join in the movement to erect a suitable memorial to the little girl who gave her life for honor. It is requested that all donations be sent to Camp No. 763, P. C. V, Marietta, Ga.

Mr. Morris is preparing to call a meeting of the railroad men, veterans and all others raising funds for this purpose at his home in Marietta on December 10, 1913, when a committee will be named to select a design for a monument and make arrangements for its erection and unveiling on Confederate Memorial Day, April 26, 1914, the first anniversary of her death.