Leo Frank Case Judge Leonard Roan's Instructions To The Jury At Leo Frank's Rape Murder Trial

In this Audiobook, the bill of indictment which includes the charges is read out aloud by Judge Leonard Roan who begins by giving a short brief of the crime Leo Max Frank committed against Mary Phagan and the means and methods of executing his plans to violently rape and murder her. Leo Frank is then assumed to be innocent until proven guilty until evidence is provided to corroborate the accusations against the defendant. The judge goes through the motions and explains minute details of the differences in the type of conviction - whether it be reasonable doubt or beyond any doubt as well as the standard textual definitions of the crimes he is accused of committing.

These include terms such as doubt, beyond any doubt, beyond a reasonable doubt, murder, express malice, and implied malice. The Judge further stated that he encourages direct evidence as better proof of an accusation instead of circumstantial ones. The Judge further continues by saying that the Solicitor General of the state had been allowed to cross examine the eye witnesses for the defense. Any accusations coming forth from the prosecution will also need to bring in witnesses to enhance the validity of such claims. The defense in turn has the right to cross-examine the witnesses brought forth by the prosecution. If the jury believes the defendant is guilty without a reasonable doubt, the bar to convict the accused is set high especially when circumstantial evidence is taken into account.

Thereby simply accusing the defendant of having a bad character is not a good enough reason to have him convicted without taking any other factors into consideration.

Originally posted on The American Mercury: https://theamericanmercury.org/2017/11/new-audio-book-the-american-mercury-on-leo-frank-judge-leonard-roans-charge-to-the-jury/

The Mary Phagan Family Website: https://www.littlemaryphagan.com

Leo Frank Archive: https://www.leofrank.org

Leo Frank Research Library: https://www.leofrank.info

The American Mercury: https://www.theamericanmercury.org