Friday, 5th September 1913: Conley To Face Misdemeanor Charge Only, The Atlanta Georgian

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A misdemeanor charge may be the most serious on which Jim Conley, confessed accessory after the fact in the murder of Mary Phagan, may be tried.

This developed Friday when preparations were being made to ask for his indictment by the Fulton County Grand Jury.

A delicate point in the interpretation of the law is involved in Conley's case.

It had been expected that he would be tried on a felony charge, but several lawyers who have investigated the law on the point say that it is doubtful if this can be made in the view of the circumstances of the case as developed in the testimony during the trial of Leo M. Frank for the murder.

What Constitutes Felony.

An accessory after the fact may eb found guilty of a felony if, in the records of the law, he harbors or conceals the perpetrator of a crime punishable by death or life imprisonment and withholds from the officials the information of the crime.

The misdemeanor charge may be made when information of this sort is withheld, no mention being made of harboring or concealing the perpetrator.

Conley's story, as it was told to the jury in the Frank trial, involved at no point the concealing of Frank in the accepted meaning of the term.

Unless it can eb given a broader meaning, it is thought by many lawyers that the misdemeanor charge is the most serious that can be brought against the negro.

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CRAWFORD HEIRS PROMISE

NEW DISCLOSURE

Scoff Widow's Conspiracy

Charge and Declare They Have Evidence to Convict Her.

Attorney Burton Smith, of counsel for Mrs. Mary Belle Crawford, charged with having poisoned her husband, Joshua B. Crawford, in Atlanta four years ago as the sensational outgrowth of civil litigation over the dead man's $200, 000 estate, on Friday demanded of Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey an immediate hearing by the Grand Jury of the murder evidence.

Attorney Smith declared that his client wished to clear away the criminal charge against her before the civil proceedings, which were interrupted by the Frank trial, he again resumed.

Should Solicitor Dorsey accede to this demand, it is probable that Mrs. Crawford's case will come before the Grand Jury within the next week and the criminal charges made against her by C. Z. Crawford and other heirs-at-law of the estate will be thrashed out.

Meanwhile, Colonel J. S. James, attorney for Crawford and his associates, has made a country wide search for poison evidence to present when the hearing of the civil case is resumed before Auditor J. L. Anderson.

The introduction of the new testimony will be the result of the work of Colonel James and his assistants since the adjournment of the case more than a month ago.

The new evidence, Colonel James declared, is of even more startling nature than any which has heretofore been introduced in the sensational case, and it is claimed will be a strong link in the chain which is being woven to prove that Mrs. Crawford murdered her husband.

While refusing to make public the nature of the evidence which he asserts has obtained, Colonel James declared it removed every shadow of doubt as to the guilt of the accused woman.

The only inkling of his plans is contained in the statement that the testimony of Dr. H. F. Harris, of the State Board of Health, in refutation of the statements of Dr. J. W. Hurt, will be corroborated.

Dr. Hurt has testified that he did not give Mr. Crawford any opium during the time he attended him, though the drug was later found in his stomach by chemists.

He swore also that Mr. Crawford died of pneumonia.

Doctors' Testimony at Variance.

Dr. Harris, refuting the testimony of Dr. Hurt, swore that he had examined Mr. Crawford's lungs after the body had been exhumed in Carroll County and that he found a trace of pneumonia.

He gave it as his professional opinion that death was not caused by any disease of the lungs.

In corroboration of Dr. Harris, Colonel James declared, half a dozen medical experts will be placed on the witness stand.

Indications are that expert testimony will pay a large part in the future hearings of the will case and in the trial of Mrs. Crawford, should she be indicted by the Grand Jury.

Colonel James would divulge the name of but one of the experts who will testify along the same lines as Dr. Harris.

He is Dr. Griffin, a physician of Carroll County, who was present when Dr. Harris examined the lungs of Mr. Crawford and who aided in the examination.

Colonel James says Dr. Griffin will testify that Crawford did not have pneumonia or any other disease of the lungs, WIDOW, LEADING FIGURE IN WILL CASE, AND SON MRS.

MARY BELLE CRAWFORD.

and that he found traces of opium during the analysis of the stomach.

Pledges Startling Evidence.

In addition to the expert testimony refuting Dr. Hurt and sustaining Dr. Harris, Colonel James said, we will have other witnesses who will make statements of equal, or even greater, importance.

We will introduce testimony that will prove beyond the least shadow of a doubt that Mrs. Crawford murdered her husband.

We have been working hard on the case since it was postponed, and have unearthed valuable evidence.

We hope to have Fred Lumb, the barber who was associated with Mrs. Crawford in the plot to poison her husband, located by the time the hearing is resumed.

We have traced Lumb all over the East, and though we have gotten no definite trace of him since he left New York after receiving a warning telegram from Atlanta, we are confident that we are on his trail and will soon have him in custody.

Colonel James ridiculed Mrs. Crawford's statement that she is the victim of a conspiracy between the heirs-at-law and their attorneys.

He expressed also his confidence that the Grand Jury would consider Mrs. Crawford's case and return an indictment before the hearing of the will case is resumed.

The only cause of the delay, he stated, is the fact that Colonel Reed, Solicitor General for the Stone Mountain Circuit, has not been able to give his attention to the case.

He was appointed by Judge Ellis to serve as prosecutor, and the Grand Jury will consider the case when he brings the matter before them.

James Scores Plot Charge.

Mrs. Crawford's assertions that is the victim of a conspiracy and is being persecuted are ridiculous. She has had a fair deal, so far as I know, and despite her statements to the contrary, I have definite information that her case will go before the Grand Jury within two months.

James Scores Plot Charge.

Mrs. Crawford's assertions that she is the victim of a conspiracy and is being persecuted are ridiculous. She has had a fair deal, so far as I know, and despite her statements to the contrary, I have definite information that her case will go before the Grand Jury within two months.

Colonel James stated that it is hardly probable the hearing of the case will be resumed before the middle of October, after the hearing of the arguments for a new trial for Leo Frank before Judge Roan on October 4.

Both Luther Rosser and Reuben Arnold, associated with the Frank defense, are attorneys for Mrs. Crawford, and they have expressed a desire that the resumption of the hearing be postponed until after a new trial has been granted Frank, or refused, or an appeal has been taken to a higher court.

Mr. Arnold is now out of the city on a vacation, and Colonel James expects to be absent during the last two weeks of September, attending the Superior Court of Douglas County.

It is probable that Colonel James and Luther and Burton Smith, of Mrs. Crawford's counsel, will hold a conference to-day or Saturday, when some definite date for the resumption of the hearing probably may be determined upon.