DR CLARENCE JOHNSON, Sworn In For The State, 193rd To Testify

Dr. Clarence Johnson, witness for the State in rebuttal, 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)

Dr. Clarence Johnson, a specialist in stomach and intestinal diseases and a physiologist, testified that in a healthy 13- to 14-year-old girl who consumed bread and cabbage at 11:30 a.m., normal digestion would proceed predictably. Given Mary Phagan’s body was discovered at approximately 3:00 a.m. on April 27, showing clear signs of strangulation (cord indentation, cyanotic nails and skin, protruding tongue), rigor mortis of about 20 hours, and post-embalming disinterment after 9–10 days, he analyzed the stomach contents: cabbage fragments (State’s Exhibit G), undigested starch granules, 32 degrees combined hydrochloric acid, a closed pylorus, and an empty duodenum and first six feet of small intestine.

Johnson concluded that **digestion had been interrupted within one hour** of the meal. He emphasized that the absence of free hydrochloric acid, dextrin, or intestinal contents indicated the process had not progressed beyond the initial gastric phase. He rejected defense claims of delayed digestion due to poor mastication or vomiting, stating that vomited material cannot yield scientific conclusions and that the embalming fluid (formaldehyde) preserved gastric juices.

On **cross-examination**, Johnson acknowledged that trauma, strangulation, or circulatory disruption could inhibit digestion, but maintained the laboratory findings pointed to **under one hour**. He noted normal gastric acidity ranges from 30–45 degrees and that formaldehyde minimally affects pancreatic juice. Insufficient mastication or fatigue delays digestion, but not to the extent seen in vomited contents. He had never examined Phagan’s stomach.

On **re-direct**, he stated that 160 cc of liquid remaining in the stomach nine days post-embalming would be slightly above normal under the described conditions. This testimony reinforced the State’s timeline that Phagan was killed shortly after noon on April 26, contradicting Frank’s claim that she left his office unharmed.