Judge Horton called the first case against Haywood Patterson and began jury selection. [6][7][8] A fight broke out between the white and black groups near the Lookout Mountain tunnel, and the whites were kicked off the train. boys because Although the motion was denied, this got the issue in the record for future appeals. His son, Sonny, later recalled him as saying: "Those young men were innocent; everybody knew that but they were going to be punished for what they didn't do." "[61] He called local jury commissioners to explain the absence of African-Americans from Jackson County juries. In an opinion written by Associate Justice George Sutherland, the Court found the defendants had been denied effective counsel. "[60], Leibowitz asserted his trust in the "God-fearing people of Decatur and Morgan County";[60] he made a pretrial motion to quash the indictment on the ground that blacks had been systematically excluded from the grand jury. She said none of the defendants had touched her or even spoken to her. October 1: Lawyers associated with ILD are caught with $1500 bribe that was to be given to Victoria Price. . January 5: A letter written from Bates to her boyfriend is uncovered. The ILD spearheaded a national campaign to help free the nine young men, including rallies, speeches, parades and demonstrations. . It was the basis for the court's finding in Norris v. Alabama (1935), that exclusion of African-American grand jurors had occurred, violating the due process clause of the Constitution. On July 24, 1937, Ozie Powell was taken into court and the new prosecutor, Thomas Lawson, announced that the state was dropping rape charges against Powell and that he was pleading guilty to assaulting a deputy. The Scottsboro trial happened in Alabama in 1931. The Supreme Court sent the case back to Judge Hawkins for a retrial. The case went to the United States Supreme Court on October 10, 1932, amidst tight security. No new evidence was revealed. In 2013, the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles voted unanimously to issue posthumous pardons to Patterson, Weems and Andy Wright, bringing a long-overdue end to one of the most notorious cases of racial injustice in U.S. history. The trial of the youngest, 13-year-old Leroy Wright, ended in a hung jury when one juror favored life imprisonment rather than death. . "[60], Leibowitz called the editor of the Scottsboro weekly newspaper, who testified that he'd never heard of a black juror in Decatur because "they all steal. and the [49] The ILD retained attorneys George W. Chamlee, who filed the first motions, and Joseph Brodsky. Norris Nine African American boys were charged with rape. electric chair. The judge had ordered the Alabama bar to assist the defendants, but the only attorney who volunteered was Milo Moody, a 69-year-old attorney who had not defended a case in decades. "What has been done to her cannot be undone. What was the final verdict? Judge Horton postpones the trials of the other Scottsboro [63] The judge abruptly interrupted Leibowitz.[64]. -one boy was nearly blind -one boy had Syphilis -Price's boyfriend testified that she had been with him the night before -no live semen found during medical evaluation [98] She said they raped her and Bates, afterward saying they would take them north or throw them in the river. At nine on Thursday morning, April 9, 1931, the five defendants in Wednesday's trial were all found guilty. (Credit: AP Photo) Outraged by the Supreme Court's interference, Alabama again put the boys on trial. their [131] In January 2004, the town dedicated a historical marker in commemoration of the case at the Jackson County Court House. The judge was replaced and the case tried under a judge who ruled frequently against the defense. "[80] Bates proceeded to testify and explained that no rape had occurred. "The Scottsboro Trials" PBS Documentary The. Convicted of manslaughter after a barroom brawl in 1951, Patterson died of cancer in 1952. He drifted around in the North, working odd jobs and struggling with a drinking problem. . Attorneys Samuel Leibowitz, Walter H. Pollak and Osmond Frankel argued the case from February 15 to 18, 1935. She was, however, the first witness to use her bad memory, truculence, and total lack of refinement, and at times, even ignorance, to great advantage. [117] Leibowitz chose to keep Norris off the stand. Lee Adams testified that he had seen the fight, but later saying that he was a quarter-mile from the tracks. Harry Emerson Fosdick of that city. age 76. National Guard members in plain clothes mingled in the crowd, looking for any sign of trouble. Clarence Norris is convicted of rape and sentenced to NAACP and International Labor Defense (ILD) battle for the Welcome to Famous Trials, the Web's largest and most visited collection of original essays, trial transcripts and exhibits, maps, images, and other materials relating to the greatest trials in world history. [19], Because of the mob atmosphere, Roddy petitioned the court for a change of venue, entering into evidence newspaper and law enforcement accounts[20] describing the crowd as "impelled by curiosity". The nine, after nearly being lynched, were brought to trial in Scottsboro in April 1931, just three weeks after their arrests. [31] On cross-examination, Roy Wright testified that Patterson "was not involved with the girls", but that "The long, tall, black fellow had the pistol. Pollak argued that the defendants had been denied due process: first, due to the mob atmosphere; and second, because of the strange attorney appointments and their poor performance at trial. Horton ordered a new trial which would turn out to be the third for Patterson. "If you don't, they will kill you, Red", said the judge. He was reported to have died not long after his release due to tuberculosis. 4. Scottsboro Trial Video Review Flashcards | Quizlet Scottsboro Documentary Viewing Guide.docx - Course Hero Scottsboro Boys - Wikipedia Scottsboro: An American Tragedy, PBS. [38], This trial was interrupted and the jury sent out when the Patterson jury reported; they found him guilty. 19. While appeals were filed, the Alabama Supreme Court issued indefinite stays of executions 72 hours before the defendants were scheduled to die. Haywood Patterson found guilty by jury and sentenced to November 7: In the case of Powell v. Alabama, the Supreme Court ruled that the defendants were denied the right to counsel. The nine young men are taken to Scottsboro, Ala. Chief Justice John C. Anderson dissented, agreeing with the defense in many of its motions. "[85], The jury began deliberating Saturday afternoon and announced it had a verdict at ten the next morning, while many residents of Decatur were in church. How long did the jury take to re-convict the boys during the third trial? death On cross-examination he testified that he had seen "all but three of those negroes ravish that girl", but then changed his story. When he resumed the next morning, he pointed out many contradictions among her various versions of the rape. was raped. At this point, the International Labor Defense (ILD), the legal wing of the American Communist Party, took on the boys case, seeing its potential to galvanize public opinion against racism. Judge Horton refused to grant a new trial, telling the jury to "put [the remarks] out of your minds. Alabama Pardon Board declines to pardon Patterson and though "Scottsboro: An American Tragedy", PBS.org, CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (, "A wing of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the United States, devoted to the defense of people it perceived as victims of a class war. Lewis, Femi. But he said that he saw the alleged rapes by the other blacks from his spot atop the next boxcar. [75], Train fireman Percy Ricks testified that he saw the two women slipping along the side of the train right after it stopped in Paint Rock, as if they were trying to escape the posse. They have been yelling frame-up ever since this case started! In 1937, the state dropped all charges for Willie Roberson, Olen Montgomery, Eugene Williams, and Roy Wright, who had already been in prison for six years. Leibowitz showed the justices that the names of African Americans had been added to the jury rolls. In the same election, Thomas Knight was elected Lieutenant Governor of Alabama.[112]. cases. Price dies five years later. Price testified again that a dozen armed negro men entered the gondola car. July: Norris' death sentence is commuted to life imprisonment by Governor Graves. And now they come over here and try to convince you that that sort of thing happened in your neighboring county. gathered around Charlie Weems was paroled in 1943 after having been held in prison for a total of 12 years in some of Alabama's worst institutions. and Roy Knight agreed that it was an appeal to passion, and Callahan overruled the motion. 16. During both cases, Callahan's bias is revealed through his omissionshe does not explain to Patterson's jury how to deliver a not guilty verdict and also does not ask for the mercy of God upon Norris' soul during his sentencing. During the Decatur retrial, held from November 1933 to July 1937, Judge Callahan wanted to take the case off "the front pages of America's newspapers. She said she was "sorry for all the trouble that I caused them", and claimed she did it because she was "frightened by the ruling class of Scottsboro." His family planned on him going to Seminary school, but whether this happened is not certain. He had never lost a murder trial and was a registered Democrat, with no connection to the Communist Party. Patterson pointed at H.G. [97] She said the negros had ripped her clothes off and repeatedly raped her at knifepoint, and pointed out Patterson as one of the rapists. Posse member Tom Rousseau claimed to have seen the women and youths get off the same car but under cross-examination admitted finding the defendants scattered in various cars at the front of the train.
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