325 Sheet – American State Trials 1918 Volume X Leo Frank Document

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Reading Time: 3 minutes [423 words]

Here is the translated text as follows:

LEO M. FRANK. 298

Some of us are early birds, while others slumber even through the tempting call of the breakfast bell. Would you hang us for that?

Then, they say he hired a lawyer, and they call it suspicious—mighty suspicious. They wouldn't have kicked if he had hired Rube Arnold, because Rube has a good character. But they hired me, and they kicked and yelled "suspicions" so loudly you could hear it all the way from here to Jesup's cut. I don't know that I had ever met Frank before that morning, but I had represented the pencil factory previously. And as to their employing me, it's this way:

There's no telling what was floating around in John Black's head that morning. They sent men after Frank, and there was no telling what was likely to happen to him. They were forced to do something in his own defense. And, as a result, the state's worst suspicion is the fact that they employed me and Herbert Haas. Now, gentlemen, let's see what there is in it; I have told you that twice on that Sunday he had been to police headquarters without counsel, without friends. The next day they adopted new methods of getting him there and sent two detectives for him. Black had said he had been watching Frank, and woe to him who is haunted by the eagle eye of dear old John. They took him to the police station on Monday—took him, I say. The police idea was to show their fangs. He was under arrest, that's an undisputed fact. They had him at the police station, Lanford, in his wonted dignity, sitting around doing nothing, letting Frank soak. Beavers, the handsome one, was doing the same. Frank didn't call for friends or a lawyer. He didn't call for anything. If he had known what he was up against, though, in this police department of ours, he'd probably have called for two lawyers—or even more. But old man Sig Montag, who has been here a long time, knew this old police crowd and he knew their tactics. He was well on to their curves. He knew what danger there was to Frank. He called up Haas. Haas didn't want to come to the police station—he had a good reason. Sig went to the police station and was refused permission to see Frank. Now, I want you to get that in your mind. A citizen—not under arrest—was refused permission to see a man who was under arrest.