When asked why she had initially said she had been raped, Bates replied, "I told it just like Victoria did because she said we might have to stay in jail if we did not frame up a story after crossing a state line with men." to He supplied them with an acquittal form only after the prosecution, fearing reversible error, urged him to do so. January 24: Ozie Powell pulls a knife and slashes a police officer's throat while being transported to Birmingham Jail. Stand your ground, show you are a man, a red-blooded he-man. in a mistrial when some jurors hold out for a death sentence An NBC TV movie, Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys (1976), asserted that the defense had proven that Price and Bates were prostitutes; both sued NBC over their portrayals. State and Ruby Callahan would not allow Leibowitz to ask Price about any "crime of moral turpitude." [102], The prosecution called several white farmers who testified that they had seen the fight on the train and saw the girls "a-fixin' to get out", but they saw the defendants drag them back. "[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. He continued, "These defendants were confined in jail in another county and local counsel had little opportunity to prepare their defense. [30][31] The celebration was so loud that it was most likely heard by the second jury waiting inside. Only four of them had known each other before their arrest. In total, the Scottsboro nine were found guilty in three separate trials. The Birmingham News described him as "dressed up like a Georgia gigolo. Price in He said that he had seen both Price and Bates get on a train there with a white man on the morning of the alleged rape. He said threats were made even in the presence of the judge. The Alabama Supreme Court granted 13-year-old Eugene Williams a new trial because he was a juvenile, which saved him from the immediate threat of the electric chair. [52], The Court upheld the lower court's change of venue decision, upheld the testimony of Ruby Bates, and reviewed the testimony of the various witnesses. Stream thousands of hours of acclaimed series, probing documentaries and captivating specials commercial-free in HISTORY Vault. "The Scottsboro Boys." Updated: August 30, 2022 | Original: February 22, 2018. transferred to Judge William Callahan's court. The state dropped the rape charges as part of this plea bargain.[6]. They said the problem was with the way Judge Hawkins "immediately hurried to trial. the sheriff and is sentenced to 20 years. Horton [65] The jury was selected by the end of the day on Friday and sequestered in the Lyons Hotel. 14. FBI arrests Patterson, but Attorneys Osmond Frankel and Walter Pollak argued those. "Famous Trials" first appeared on the Web in 1995, making this site older than about 99.97% of all websites. The nine young men are taken to Scottsboro, Ala. A crowd of thousands soon formed. Horton ordered a new trial which would turn out to be the third for Patterson. [74], Leibowitz began his defense by calling Chattanooga resident Dallas Ramsey, who testified that his home was next to the hobo jungle mentioned earlier. Horton. On July 24, 1937, Charlie Weems was convicted of rape and sentenced to 105 years in prison. Daniel Anker and Barak Goodman produced the story of the Scottsboro Boys in the 2001 documentary. Writing for the Court, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes observed the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution clearly forbade the states from excluding citizens from juries due solely to their race. Prosecutors got the cases in front of a more sympathetic judge, and both Patterson and Norris were retried, convicted and sentenced to death in late 1933. Ory Dobbins repeated that he'd seen the women try to jump off the train, but Leibowitz showed photos of the positions of the parties that proved Dobbins could not have seen everything he claimed. He is not here." What movement did the Scottsboro Trials re-spark? November 17: Weems is released on parole. [103] Patterson explained contradictions in his testimony: "We was scared and I don't know what I said. Chief Justice John C. Anderson dissented, ruling that the defendants had been denied an impartial jury, fair trial, fair sentencing, and effective counsel. During prosecution testimony, Victoria Price stated that she and Ruby Bates witnessed the fight, that one of the black men had a gun, and that they all raped her at knifepoint. . "[29] The defense made no closing argument, nor did it address the sentencing of the death penalty for their clients. October 26: The United States Supreme Court decides not to hear the appeal of Patterson. [51] Chamlee pointed to the uproar in Scottsboro that occurred when the verdicts were reported as further evidence that the change of venue should have been granted. Home. "[71], Leibowitz systematically dismantled each prosecution witness' story under cross-examination. scottsboroanamericantragedyquestionspbs 1 1 .docx - Name: Scottsboro Both Price and Bates are examined by doctors. of Alabama. Grounds for As news spread of the alleged rape (a highly inflammatory charge given the Jim Crow laws in the South), an angry white mob surrounded the jail, leading the local sheriff to call in the Alabama National Guard to prevent a lynching. 1931 What year did the Scottsboro story begin? When the US Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in 1977, Price disregarded the advice of her lawyer and accepted a settlement from NBC. On July 22, 1937, Andrew Wright was convicted of rape and sentenced to 99 years. and They say this is a frame-up! [37] The jury quickly convicted Patterson and recommended death by electric chair.[38]. https://www.thoughtco.com/timeline-of-scottsboro-boys-45428 (accessed May 1, 2023). The other defendants waited in the Jefferson County jail in Birmingham for the outcome of the appeals. Scottsboro case | law case | Britannica Wright tried to get Carter to admit that the Communist Party had bought his testimony, which Carter denied. By the evening, the local newspaper, Jackson County Sentinel calls the rape a "revolting crime.". He was called in to see the judge presiding over that retrial, James Horton, who exhorted him to change his vote to guilty. "[67] Her answers were evasive and derisive. and Patterson Ruby Bates took the stand, identifying all five defendants as among the 12 entering the gondola car, putting off the whites, and "ravishing" her and Price. With prominent defense attorney Samuel Leibowitz arguing the case for the ILD, the Alabama Supreme Court unanimously denied the defenses motion for new trials, and the case headed for a second hearing in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Scottsboro Trial Collection, Cornell Law Library. Scottsboro: An American Tragedy, PBS. The attorneys approached the bench for a hushed conversation, which was followed by a short recess. On March 24, 1932, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled against seven of the eight remaining Scottsboro Boys, confirming the convictions and death sentences of all but the 13-year-old Eugene Williams. November 15: The pardon applications of all five defendants are denied by Graves. and represent the Scottsboro boys. There were few African Americans in the jury pool, as most had been disenfranchised since the turn of the century by a new state constitution and white discriminatory practice, and were thus disqualified from jury service. "[61] He called local jury commissioners to explain the absence of African-Americans from Jackson County juries. ", Ruby Bates was apparently too sick to travel. July 23 - 24: Ozie Powell's rape charges are dropped. Leibowitz objected that African-American jurors had been excluded from the jury pool. Leibowitz's prompt appeal stayed the execution date, so Patterson and Norris were both returned to death row in Kilby Prison. However, it would take several years for these young men's cases to be overturned. The defense objected vigorously, but the Court allowed it.[42]. Nine African American boys were charged with rape. governor refuses extradition to Alabama. He also imposed a strict three-day time limit on each trial, running them into the evening. Verdict is announced in Scottsboro case - History He is found guilty and sentenced to 75 years in prison. . As to representation, the Court found "that the defendants were represented by counsel who thoroughly cross examined the state's witnesses, and presented such evidence as was available. After a demonstration in Harlem, the Communist Party USA took an interest in the Scottsboro case. September: Wright and Norris leave Alabama. After escaping from prison in 1948, Patterson was picked up in Detroit by the FBI, but the Michigan governor refused Alabamas efforts to extradite him. "[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. Although the motion was denied, this got the issue in the record for future appeals. When Leibowitz accused them of excluding black men from juries, they did not seem to understand his accusation. "[84] He ended with the Lord's Prayer and a challenge to either acquit or render the death sentencenothing in between. He did so within the next year, and reportedly died in Alabama in 1975. trials. But from then on the defense was helpless. October 20: The cases of the nine defendants are moved from Horton's court to Judge William Callahan. The U.S. Supreme Court overturns the convictions of Norris [131] In January 2004, the town dedicated a historical marker in commemoration of the case at the Jackson County Court House. Rape charges She used the money to buy a house. Knight continued, "We all have a passion, all men in this courtroom to protect the womanhood in Alabama. against Scottsboro Anderson concluded, "No matter how revolting the accusation, how clear the proof, or how degraded or even brutal, the offender, the Constitution, the law, the very genius of Anglo-American liberty demand a fair and impartial trial."[56]. The following is what happened to each of the nine Scottsboro Boys after 1935: Haywood Patterson was convicted of rape for the fourth time in 1936 and sentenced to 75 years in prison. During the second trial's prosecution testimony, Victoria Price mostly stuck with her story, stating flatly that Patterson raped her. During the retrials, one of the alleged victims admitted to fabricating the rape story and asserted that none of the Scottsboro Boys touched either of the white women. "[83] He goes on to say that, "Until Wright spoke, many of the newspapermen felt that there was an outside chance for acquittal, at least a hung jury. March 24: The Alabama Supreme Court upholds the convictions of seven defendants in a vote of 6-1. She reiterated that neither she nor Price had been raped. Norris later wrote a book about his experiences. [47] The Party used its legal arm, the International Labor Defense (ILD), to take up their cases,[48] and persuaded the defendants' parents to let the party champion their cause. The Scottsboro boys were declared guilty, death by electrocution. DOC "The Scottsboro Trials" PBS DocumentaryThe American Experience [86], According to one account, juror Irwin Craig held out against the imposition of the death penalty, because he thought that Patterson was innocent.[87]. [97] He confirmed Price's rape account, adding that he stopped the rape by convincing the "negro" with the gun to make the rapists stop "before they killed that woman. Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signs legislation Scheduled maintenance: Thursday, January 26 from 6PM to 7PM PST. Nor was she the first witness who tried to stare him down and, failing that, who seemed as if she were about to leap out of her seat and strike him. Governor. 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. "[81], Leibowitz objected and moved for a new trial. This second landmark decision in the Scottsboro Boys case would help integrate future juries across the nation. Timeline of the Scottsboro Boys Case - ThoughtCo He had testified in the first Decatur trial that Price and Bates had had sex with him and Gilley in the hobo jungle in Chattanooga prior to the alleged rapes, which could account for the semen found in the women. Lots bigger. their "[18] For each trial, all-white juries were selected. The Scottsboro Affair | Facing History & Ourselves electric chair. In Powell v. Alabama (1932), the Court ordered new trials.[3]. v. Patterson snapped, "I was framed at Scottsboro." On cross-examination, Bridges testified detecting no movement in the spermatozoa found in either woman, suggesting intercourse had taken place sometime before. Jack Tiller, another white, said he had had sex with Price, two days before the alleged rapes. He denied seeing the white women before Paint Rock. The Scottsboro Boys Trials: A Chronology - University of Missouri His appointment to the case drew local praise. By letting Leibowitz go on record on this issue, Judge Callahan provided grounds for the case to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for a second time. Washington Montgomery, Haywood Patterson's second trial begins in Decatur before 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. Clarence Norris's death sentence is reduced to life in to be He had never lost a murder trial and was a registered Democrat, with no connection to the Communist Party. how long did the second set of scottsboro trials last Lynching photography and the 1933 scottsboro trials. September: Patterson is sentenced to six to fifteen years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter. After Roberson and Wright died in 1959, he told Norris he planned on returning to the south. Judge Horton called the first case against Haywood Patterson and began jury selection. "[125], After the case was remanded, on May 1, 1935, Victoria Price swore new rape complaints against the defendants as the sole complaining witness. Graves. The jury foreman, Eugene Bailey, handed the handwritten verdict to Judge Horton. "[84] He called Price's testimony "a foul, contemptible, outrageous lie. She denies being raped and further testifies that she was with Price for the duration of the train ride. The four had spent over six years in prison on death row, as "adults" despite their ages. How long did the jury take to re-convict the boys during the third trial? The trial of the youngest, 13-year-old. Knight agreed that it was an appeal to passion, and Callahan overruled the motion. The prosecution rested without calling any of the white youths as witness. 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. and sentenced to death. . [36], Co-defendants Andy Wright, Eugene Williams, and Ozie Powell all testified that they did not see any women on the train. . He remained in contact with Clarence Norris for a few years and planned on Norris reuniting with younger brother Roy, but after Roy's death, Norris never saw Andy again. The bailiff let the jurors out [from the Patterson trial]. Ozzie Powell is shot in the head by Sheriff Jay Sandlin [69], Many of the whites in the courtroom likely resented Leibowitz as a Jew from New York hired by the Communists, and for his treatment of a southern white woman, even a low-class one, as a hostile witness. [63] The judge abruptly interrupted Leibowitz.[64]. He denied participating in the fight or being in the gondola car where the fight took place. October: George Wallace, governor of Alabama, pardons Clarence Norris. They kept Joseph Brodsky as the second chair for the trial. The National Guard Captain Joe Burelson promised Judge Horton that he would protect Leibowitz and the defendants "as long as we have a piece of ammunition or a man alive. Alabama. the prosecution asked for life imprisonment. Neither would he allow questions as to whether she'd had sexual intercourse with Carter or Gilley. Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen. The Trial That Stirred a Movement. protesting the Alabama trials. 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. [69] Some wondered if there was any way he could leave Decatur alive. [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. Olen Montgomery testified that he sat alone on the train and did not know of any of the referenced events. The defense again waived closing argument, and surprisingly the prosecution then proceeded to make more argument. Alabama officials eventually agreed to let four of the convicted Scottsboro BoysWeems, Andy Wright, Norris and Powellout on parole. Governor Graves denies all pardon applications. He said that he had found Orville "Carolina Slim" Gilley, the white teenager in the gondola car and that Gilley would corroborate Price's story in full. Watts moved to have the case sent to the Federal Court as a civil rights case, which Callahan promptly denied. [24], Clarence Norris and Charlie Weems were tried after Haywood Patterson. [citation needed], Defendant Clarence Norris stunned the courtroom by implicating the other defendants. [64] Now, two guardsmen with bayonets opened the courtroom doors, and Bates entered, "in stylish clothes, eyes downcast. What was the final verdict? April 8 - 9: Olen Montgomery, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Eugene Williams, and Andy Wright are also tried, convicted and sentenced to death. [76], Leibowitz next called Lester Carter, a white man who testified that he had had intercourse with Bates. Conviction of Haywood Patterson is upheld by the Alabama When Judge Horton announced his decision, Knight stated that he would retry Patterson. The Court concluded, "the motion to quash should have been granted. [98] She said they raped her and Bates, afterward saying they would take them north or throw them in the river. their paroles. The Court did not fault Moody and Roddy for lack of an effective defense, noting that both had told Judge Hawkins that they had not had time to prepare their cases. [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. For the third time a jurynow with one African-American memberreturned a guilty verdict. the Scottsboro boys. -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 June 22: Pending an appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court, the executions of the nine defendants are stayed. 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. The whites went to a sheriff in the nearby town Paint Rock, Alabama, and claimed that they were assaulted by the Black Americans on the train. [96] She testified that she had fallen while getting out of the gondola car, passed out, and came to seated in a store at Paint Rock. [129][130], Most residents of Scottsboro have acknowledged the injustice that started in their community. another man. June 12: In his bid for re-election, Horton is defeated. By the early 1930s, with the nation mired in the Great Depression, many unemployed Americans would try and hitch rides aboard freight trains to move around the country searching for work. The jury found the defendants guilty, but the judge set aside the verdict and granted a new trial. Scottsboro 18. assaulting "[3] This conclusion did not find the Scottsboro defendants innocent but ruled that the procedures violated their rights to due process under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. [40] There was no uproar at the announcement. July 12: Victoria Price sues NBC for defamation and invasion of privacy after its broadcast of Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys airs. National Guard members in plain clothes mingled in the crowd, looking for any sign of trouble. [citation needed], The pace of the trials was very fast before the standing-room-only, all-white audience. A thin smile faded from Patterson's lips as the clerk read his third death sentence. Victoria Price worked in a Huntsville cotton mill until 1938, then moved to Flintville, Tennessee. [66], Leibowitz used a 32-foot model train set up on a table in front of the witness stand to illustrate where each of the parties was during the alleged events, and other points of his defense. [134], In early May 2013, the Alabama legislature cleared the path for posthumous pardons. "The Scottsboro Boys." ThoughtCo. [88], Judge Horton heard arguments on the motion for a new trial in the Limestone County Court House in Athens, Alabama, where he read his decision to the astonished defense and a furious Knight: .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}. Victoria Price, brought out for Bates to identify, glared at her. Where did the scottsboro trial happen? is reversed 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. The pardons granted to the Scottsboro Boys today are long overdue. Alabama Governor Bibb Graves commuted Norris sentence to life imprisonment in 1938, and denied pardon applications by all five convicted defendants that same year. As a result of the pressure of the case, Watts becomes sick, causing Leibowitz to steer the defense. Roberson, Montgomery, and Powell all denied they had known each other or the other defendants before that day. jurisdiction and But others believed they were victims of Jim Crow justice, and the case was covered by numerous national newspapers. He later had a career in the. This court intends to protect these prisoners and any other persons engaged in this trial. [34], Patterson defended his actions, testifying again that he had seen Price and Bates in the gondola car, but had nothing to do with them. [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. at the prison over the next ten years. The American Communist Party maintained control over the defense of the case, retaining the New York criminal defense attorney Samuel Leibowitz. Samuel Leibowitz - Famous Trials [32], After the outburst, the defense of Patterson moved for a mistrial, but Judge Hawkins denied the motion and testimony continued. Alabama failed to provide adequate assistance of counsel as He admitted under questioning that Price told him that she had had sex with her husband and that Bates had earlier had intercourse as well, before the alleged rape events.[41]. Knight thundered, "Who told you to say that?" . Horton ruled the rest of defendants could not get a fair trial at that time and indefinitely postponed the rest of the trials, knowing it would cost him his job when he ran for re-election. Convicted of manslaughter after a barroom brawl in 1951, Patterson died of cancer in 1952. "[66] Leibowitz later conceded that Price was "one of the toughest witnesses he ever cross examined. He said, "Don't you know these defense witnesses are bought and paid for? [66] The defense had what she had said before under oath on paper, and could confront her with any inconsistencies. Without the "vivid detail" she had used in the Scottsboro trials, Victoria Price told her account in 16 minutes. The Alabama Supreme Court denies the defense motion for new trials. . [13], Sheriff Matt Wann stood in front of the jail and addressed the mob, saying he would kill the first person to come through the door. He also testified that defendant Willie Roberson was "diseased with syphilis and gonorrhea, a bad case of it." He was reported to have died in Atlanta in 1974.
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