You Are There: Atlanta Georgian, June 18th, 1913 – Little Mary Phagan

Rush Plans for Trial of Leo Frank

The Atlanta Georgian
Wednesday, June 18, 1913

Extensive Preparations Made to Accommodate Great Crowd Expected at Hearing.

When twelve books of evidence of more than 100 pages each were turned over to the Solicitor's office Wednesday morning by his stenographers, Assistant Solicitor General E. A. Stephens announced the State could now go to trial on 48 hours' notice. No evidence would be introduced, he said, except by witnesses who had already been questioned by the Solicitor.

To bring out the salient points in the evidence of each witness, the Solicitor plans to question them from the books. They will be carried over the same ground they were when they made the statements, and they will be asked no questions further than those they have already answered.

By his plan the Solicitor hopes to have the mind of each witness fresh and after he finishes the examination, according to his well arranged books of questions and answers, he thinks the defense will have difficulty in injuring the evidence on cross-examination.

Rush Plans.

Plans are being rushed to stage the trial. On account of the poor ventilation of the court room and the absence of ante-rooms to accommodate the scores of witnesses who will in all probability be sequestered, the court in the Thrower Building had been adjudged inadequate by Judge L. S. Roan and Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey.

Before leaving for New York he instructed his deputy to discuss with Judge Roan some new place to hold the trial where the large crowd could be accommodated and the heat would not be so excessive. The county board will be called upon to furnish a place and Mr. Dorsey will approve the selection when he returns from New York Saturday.

All plans for the trial will be completed before Saturday and the greater number of witnesses summoned. The week before June 30 the Superior Court officers will be busy with a mass of unimportant criminal cases. They will be unable to spare any time to prepare for the Frank trial and the necessary arrangements will have to be made this week.

Judge Thomas May Preside.

Judge W. C. Thomas, of the Superior Court, Valdosta, Lowndes County, was in a lengthy conference Wednesday with Assistant Solicitor E. A. Stephens, giving rise to the rumor that he might be asked to preside at the Frank trial, which will be called June 30.

Judge Thomas has presided at several other trials in Fulton County in which there was considerable local feeling, one of the most notable being the jail bond case. Judge L. S. Roan was to have presided at the Frank trial, but it is supposed that the intense local interest in the murder mystery will make him willing to turn the case over to an outside judge if the Solicitor's office suggests the move.