Wednesday, 26th May 1915: Conley Wrote Notes Alone, Says Expert, The Atlanta Journal

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Osborn Now Declares He Believes Frank Did Not Aid Negro

Albert S. Osborn, a Handwriting Expert and Examiner of questioned documents, of New York City, who examined the notes found beside the body of Mary Phagan, has submitted to the State Prison Commission and the Governor a detailed Analytical Report of his Examination of the notes and the Substance of his conclusion is expressed by him in the following language.

"Summarizing the matter, it seems to me that when the illegibility, incoherence, repetition and the uncertain effect of the whole Communication are considered, that it is perfectly clear that James Conley did not have intelligent assistance in writing the Document, and I think the Document in its primary conception, its penmanship, its arrangement, its appearance, the material used in its Construction, its choice of words, its ideas, its grammar, is all consistent and points to the Operation of but one mind, and that the mind of James Conley. It frequently occurs in Documents of this kind that the ideas expressed, and the language employed are highly inconsistent with the spelling and the appearance of the Paper, showing that an intelligent person was assuming illiteracy, but this Document is clumsy and uncouth in every way."

Mr. Osborn accompanies his Report of the Examination of the notes with a Letter, fully setting forth his Connection with the Case. He was employed, he states, by Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey to make an Examination of the notes. On June 17, 1913, before the Frank trial, he made a Report to Solicitor Dorsey saying the notes might have been written at the suggestion or with the collusion of Frank. Subsequent study, however, has convinced him, he states that Conley had no assistance.

Mr. Osborn further states that he submits his Report to the Prison Commission and Governor with the personal Permission of Solicitor Dorsey, having obtained this Permission before acting.

The significance of his conclusion lies in its conflict with the testimony of the Negro James Conley, who swore Frank suggested the writing of the notes, dictated what Conley should write in them, and sat across the table in Frank's Office while he (Conley) wrote the notes.

With Resolutions adopted by the Legislatures of Michigan and Louisiana urging a Commutation of Leo M. Frank's Sentence of Life Imprisonment the Lawmaking Bodies of a Half Dozen States have petitioned for Executive Clemency for the condemned man.

Thousands of Letters from all Sections of the Country petitioning Clemency for Frank continue to pour in upon the Governor and the State Prison Commission. Many of these Letters come from leading Citizens of Georgia, including numerous Jurists and Attorneys.

SAVANNAH, Ga., May 26. Savannah is preparing to send a strong Delegation to Atlanta to plead to the Prison Commission for the life of Leo Frank. Judge Samuel B. Adams, a former Member of the Supreme Court of Georgia, will go as will T. M. Cunningham, Jr., and Alex Lawrence. The latter is the Senator-Elect from the District. Some of the most prominent men in Savannah have signed the Application for Clemency for Frank.