The Leo Frank Case: Lawyers Laud and Denounce Frank - Inside Story Of Georgia's Greatest Murder Mystery

This is the twenty-first Chapter in the 22-part series of 'Leo Frank Case: Inside Story Of Georgia's Greatest Murder Mystery'.
Attorney Frank A. Hooper opened the state's argument for the conviction of Leo M. Frank for the murder of Mary Phagan in an eloquent speech, replete with word pictures, sarcastic, pathetic, humorous, and dramatic. He declared that the state was not seeking a verdict of guilty unless the defendant was guilty, and that the state cheerfully assumed the burden of proving him guilty.Show more

Hooper described the defendant as a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a man who was congenial with two widely different sets of associates. He declared that Jim Conley had stood like Stone Mountain in the face of the tremendous bombardment directed at him by Attorney Rosser in an effort to break him down. However, Conley eventually arrived at the truth.

Hooper touched on the evidence only in a general way, dealing more with the law. He defined the reasonable doubt, told the jury of the value of character testimony, and the worth of circumstantial evidence. Attorney Arnold, who succeeded him on the floor, argued four hours and forty minutes, while Luther Rosser took exactly the same time. Solicitor Dorsey talked between eleven and twelve hours, making one of his longest speeches ever made by a prosecutor in a criminal case in the South.

Attorney Arnold was perhaps never more effective than in the Frank trial, speaking deliberately, choosing his words, pausing for emphasis, and the gestures of a master actor could not have been more dramatic. He paid his respects to the jury by saying they are "way above" the average. He took up every detail of the state's theory and with powerful logic undertook to show that this theory is unreasonable and absurd.

Hear about the different scenarios and theories that both sets of lawyers (both the State and the Defense) lay out for the judge and jurors regarding Frank's guilt and/or innocence.

Please purchase the book, 'The Frank Case: Inside Story of Georgia's Greatest Murder Mystery by The Atlanta Publishing Company' to learn more about the Leo Frank case.