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

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690 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.

He said, "I knew you couldn’t impeach me in Fulton County." There is the gauntlet that he flings down to the State. "I knew you couldn’t impeach me." Did they accept the challenge? No one was introduced to try to impeach him. It is cowardly to attack a man’s character as Arnold did Cook’s when the challenge for impeachment has been made and they haven’t attempted to accept it. Cook is a stranger to me, but give him fair play.

There is no conspiracy shown by the State. They say that Cook displayed an undue interest in Mrs. Hirsch after he had suspected her and Mayor Candler. Why undue? Didn't he have a right to find out the truth? He wouldn't want her to continue going with his mother and sister if what he suspected turned out correct, would he? But his motive might be jealousy, as they say. Or it might be curiosity. Man is so constituted, you know, that when there is that kind of a spectacle in view, he will go two miles to see it.

Then Cook says that Lee and Smith saw the act too, but they cannot be found now. The lady who kept the rooming house where they lived says they have mysteriously disappeared too. The two young lady clerks at their office say they have gone, and no one knows where. Detective Starnes says he cannot find them, although he talked to Lee on a recent Sunday. In the name of God, why have they gone?

Gentlemen, if your mind wavers in arriving at your decision, it is your duty to acquit. Unless you are sure of the guilt of the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt, you must find a verdict of not guilty. Then there is the testimony of this taxi driver, Bill Baldwin. They state that Cook asked him to secure for him a master key to the offices in the Candler building. What are they trying to prove, burglary? This piece of evidence, however, is one of those little things that either proves nothing or too much. If they wish to prove burglary, it means nothing, but if their idea is to prove conspiracy, it proves too much. Because if there was a conspiracy between Mrs. Hirsch and Cook, he would, by their own contention, need no key to get into the office.