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The Atlanta Journal,

Wednesday, 27th May 1914,

PAGE 2, COLUMN 1.

Judge Broyles ordered Dan S. Lehon, Burns' chief aide, to pay $100 and costs for violating a city ordinance. Lehon was also held for the state under a $500 bond, charged with violating section 37 of the State Code. This action took place in the Recorder's Court on Tuesday afternoon, marking another step in the prosecution of the Burns Agents.

The cases against five other Burns Agents, originally set for trial on Tuesday, were postponed until Wednesday afternoon due to the time required to hear Lehon's case. Judge Arthur Powell, representing the Burns Agents, stated before Judge Nash R. Broyles passed sentence that his clients would prefer a small fine to a discharge, as it was necessary to test the ordinances.

Judge Powell, after entering a formal plea of not guilty, also entered a special plea challenging the constitutionality of the city ordinances. On the motion of City Attorney James L. Mayson, this plea was stricken by the court. The striking of the special plea positioned the case well for appeals to higher courts, as it involved federal constitutional points, allowing the case to potentially be fought through to the United States Courts if decisions in the higher Georgia courts were adverse.

During the trial, Judge Powell informed the court that his clients wished to test the constitutionality of the ordinances with the goal of re-establishing offices in the city if the ordinances were deemed invalid. If the ordinances were upheld, he stated, his clients had no intention of disregarding them.

The hearing featured testimony from Annie Maud Carter, a Black woman who swore in an affidavit that Jim Conley had confessed to her. Carter also accused Jake Jacobs, a pawnbroker on Decatur Street, of giving her a locket, two rings, and a suitcase after learning she had interviewed Conley in the tower, before she agreed to an interview with William J. Burns.

Carter claimed she told the defense only what she had told the city police about Conley, marking the first public repudiation of her affidavit, though she had previously made repudiating statements to city detectives. Attorney Leonard Haas, representing Leo M. Frank, testified that Carter made her statement to him in the presence of several gentlemen, and he recorded her statements, which were nearly identical to her affidavit, which she swore were true and made without hope or promise of reward.

Carter testified in a bold manner, often drawing laughs from the 200 or more people who crowded the Recorder's Court. Haas also testified that he and Herbert J. Haas had employed Burns to investigate the methods used by city detectives in the Frank case, which he believed were illegal and unfair. When pressed for specific instances, Haas cited the Minola Mc Knight and Albert Mc Knight affairs and reported unfair means used to obtain testimony from several girl witnesses, including Dewey Hewell.

Members of the board of police commissioners were subpoenaed to testify that only a resident of the city for a year or more could be licensed to do detective work, and that C. E. Sears, the local manager, was understood to be working for the Burns Agency when he received his license. Sears, when questioned if he was a detective, humorously responded, "I am supposed to be," prompting laughter in the court.

Evidence introduced included Sears' application to operate a detective agency and a report on the men he employed about a year ago. L. C. Whitefield, one of the Burns workers, was implicated more seriously than the others. Chief of Police J. L. Beavers testified that Whitefield, once employed by the Pinkertons, asked for permission to work for Burns, but was told he was persona non grata. Sears later called Beavers, who reiterated his stance.

Whitefield, one of the two Pinkerton operatives who found the famous bloody stick on the first floor of the Pencil Factory, is expected to defend himself by claiming he did not work inside the city of Atlanta. Besides Whitefield, C. E. Sears, W. W. Rogers, C. C. Tedder, and W. D. Mc Worth were set to be arraigned on Wednesday.

The arraignment of the Burns Agents is likely to lead to a general probe of private detectives in Atlanta. When a committee of police commissioners investigated the Burns Agency, some members asked Lehon to provide names of workers from other agencies who had not been properly reported to the police. Lehon sent a list of names to Mayor James G. Woodward, including alleged workers for the Pinkertons and other agencies.

In a related development, the failure of the solicitor general and the attorneys for the defense of Frank to agree on certain points of the brief of evidence for the extraordinary motion on the ground of new evidence will result in a hearing before Judge Ben H. Hill on Wednesday afternoon. Solicitor Dorsey believes certain parts of the evidence from the coroner's inquest should be included in the brief, while Attorney Leonard Haas disagrees. Judge Hill will decide the disputed points before the bill goes to the Supreme Court. While Dorsey aims to be prepared by Friday on the motion to set aside the verdict, the extra work on the extraordinary motion may necessitate a delay.

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