JOHN R BLACK, Sworn In For The State, 8th To Testify

John R. Black, witness for the State, at the Trial of Leo Frank in the Fulton County Superior Court of Atlanta, Georgia, in 1913 (Testimony Portion From July 28 - August 21, 1913; Closing Arguments August 21-25, 1913)
City detective John R. Black testified:
Sunday, April 27

~6:00 a.m.: Rogers & Black at Frank’s home—Mrs. Frank in bathrobe; Frank behind curtain.
Frank: Hoarse, trembling, pale, nervous collar, rapid questions—“Coffee?”, “What happened?”
Car: “Mary Phagan dead”—Frank: “Don’t know her.”
Undertaker: Frank glanced, stepped behind curtain—no view.
Factory: Frank opened safe, found Phagan slip—“$1.20 Saturday.”

Monday, April 28

8:30–11:30: Frank at station—Rosser/Haas arrived ~8:30.
Haas: Demanded house search—no stains.

Tuesday, April 29

Lee-Frank interview: Frank “trusty” Lee; 10 minutes alone—Lee: “Hard handcuffed”; Frank: “They’ve got me too.”
Frank: Nervous, squirmy, swallowing hard.

Cross-examination

Frank: Cooperative; Rosser demanded statement.
No prior Frank nerves.
Lee’s shirt: Found Tuesday—blood both sides.
Timeline confusion: “Crossed up”—Frank’s “skips” before/after shirt?

Black’s “nervous Frank” became State’s “guilty panic”.
Defense shredded: Coffee, curtain, cooperation, Rosser present, shirt timing muddle.
Detective’s “crossed up” turned prosecution’s “smoking gun” into defense dynamite.