Cassie Monk 4th hour March 2, 2016 A Fabulous Title Gordon W. Allport once said “A prejudice, unlike a simple misconception, is actively resistant to all evidence that would unseat it.” When the trial of Leo Frank occurred many were blinded by their prejudice against Jewish people. In 1913 Leo Frank, the superintendent at a pencil factory, was accused of murdering his 13 year old employee, Mary Phagan. Frank was sentenced to death, however the governor of Georgia believed that there was not enough evidence to sentence Frank to death so he changed Frank’s sentence to life imprisonment. In the end that did not matter because a mob stormed into the jail, captured Frank, and then lynched him. Leo Frank, who was accused of murder, was innocent based …show more content…
What witnesses said is a crucial part in determining if Frank was innocent or not. Many of the witnesses’s testimonies provide vital information about what had happened on the day of the murder. After keeping a secret for almost 70 years, 83 year old Alonzo Mann told what he saw on the day of the murder of Mary Phagan. At the age of 14 Mann was working at the pencil factory. Mann says he left work to go watch the Confederate Memorial Day parade with his mother. However, he was unable to find her so he decided to go back to work. When he was at the pencil factory he saw Jim Conley holding the body of Mary Phagan. Conley said to Mann “If you ever mention this I will kill you.” Mann also said that earlier that day Conley asked for money so he could buy beer, Mann refused to give him any money. When Mary Phagan’s body was found the $1.20 that she got earlier that day was missing. Frank’s mother told him to not mention what he saw because she did not want their family to be in the eye of the public. Many doubted Mann’s testimony so they had him take 2 lie detector tests, which he passed both (His 70-year Secret).With this testimony and the missing $1.20 it shows proof that