What Was The Trial Of The Scottsboro Boys

(King, 125) Franklin Williams (a lawyer at NAACP) was assigned to the Groveland Boys case and brought his associate Horace Hill with him to meet with the Groveland Boys and begin preparing the case. The FBI conducted an investigation which showed the KKK was controlling the black population in Groveland. The trial started on August 25th. In chapter 11, Dr. Geoffery Binneveld reported that he doubted Norma’s rape allegations, saying “If I were asked if the woman was raped, I would have to answer ‘I don’t know.’” Norma gave a very dramatic testimony that seemed to have been coached.

The article The Trials of “The Scottsboro Boys,” by Douglas O. Linder speaks about, “an alleged gang rape of two white girls by nine black teenagers on a Southern Railroad freight run on March 25, 1931.” The trial was closed when the boys were pronounced guilty in court. Some of the boys were sentenced to death and some were sentenced to life in prison. This conflict is similar to a quote from, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” that says,"My folks said your daddy was a disgrace an' that nigger oughta hang from the water-tank!” (chapter 9.

One of the main pieces of evidence that prosecutors used against the West Memphis Three relied on the confession given by Jessie Misskelley. This so-called “confession” consisted of a story that placed both Echols and Baldwin at the scene of the crime, included information directly fed to Misskelley, and above all, contained major discrepancies within the story Misskelley provided versus the events that actually took place. During the first recorded confession, Misskelley incorrectly identified the time of the murder more than once, claiming that the “events took place about 9:00 a.m. on May 5” and later “chang[ing] that time to 12:00 noon,” which was still incorrect(). He also mentioned that “[the three boys] had skipped school that day,” when, in fact, they had attended class and were accounted for, along with misidentifying the item used to tie up the boys, claiming the item was rope when it was actually shoelaces that were used(). Misskelley also implied that the victims were raped, though no evidence supported his indication.

During the first trial the brothers grabbed the jurors and most of Americans around the world. They shared several accounts about the abuse they suffered at the hands of their parents. There was even a couple of stories about the mothers abuse. It was said that she would bathe them up until they were 13 years old. She have them to sleep with her where she would allow them to touch her every where.

Throughout the 1800s and early 1900s, racism was still a huge part in our society and this is demonstrated through the Scottsboro Trial and the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The first place this is shown, was after everybody heard about the supposed rape of the white girls. There were protests and tons of people showing hate towards the black men. Another example of this, was all the assumptions white people made, that the only logical explanation for the incident was that the black men raped the white girls. This assumption was without listening to the evidence or facts proving the man's innocence during the trial.

Black men are six times as likely as white men to be incarcerated in federal prisons and local jails. This kind of injustice is the reason why cases like The Scottsboro Boys case, where nine boys were falsely accused of rape, exist. This is also why books like To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee are made. In both of these trials, they highlight the injustice of blacks during the 1930’s.

They were proven wrong by other witnesses and new information was found. This is a reason for Curtis to be paid in restitution because he was charged for something that had false evidence and he should have never been convicted because of the false information said in court.

All of the young African-American men were charged with assault and rape. The Scottsboro boys were taken to Scottsboro, Alabama where they were tried in front of an all-white jury. It should also be noted that all nine of the accused were “framed”, which is a legal term for deliberately providing false evidence to give support to convict a subject. In the court of Judge A.E. Hawkins, two of the boys, Clarence Norris and Charlie Weems were first tried, and then convicted of both crimes and sentenced to death, over the span of only two days, April 6th and April 7th, 1931. On April 8th and 9th of 1931, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Olen Montgomery, Eugene Williams, and Andy Wright were also tried, convicted of both crimes, and sentenced to death.

In accordance with David Scott, author of the article “Virginia Mc Martin Dies at 88; Figure in Case on Child Abuse”, it was suggested that this letters contaminated the case from the beginning. In the letter, they could find the name of Raymond Buckey causing hysteria among the children’s parents. Five employees of the daycare were taken into custody and charged with over 120 counts of child abuse that in the end turned to 321 charges involving 49 children. The news of the case soon spread throughout the country. Supposed allegations of child abuse began surfacing in dozens of pre-schools.

Not only do the defendants have to say “I did it”, they also have to explain how. Most false confessions happen because the interrogator coerces the defendant to confess, whether they did it or not. During the case, the boys were between the ages of 14-16, which makes it easier to coerce them to confession. Some believe the confessions shouldn’t be used because of errors. For example, they would say they used a rock to cause a head wound, then the rock would turn to a brick, but it actually wasn’t caused by either of these.

Per Julie’s request I have made a summary of some of the witnesses that were called in the 2001 hearing transcript for a motion for a new trial. The specific witnesses in question are Donavan Rouse, Thrista Rouse, Lucritia Rouse, and Rosemary Rouse. All five of these witnesses maintained the same general story that they had lied in order to go back home, and that their uncles had never touched them in an inappropriate manner. All children also stated that the line of questioning from the FBI was the same for every child questioned.

During the “West Memphis Three” trials however, no eye witnesses came forth to the judges and said that they saw the boys do it. In determining if the defendants should be counted guilty, eye witnesses play a huge part in it. During the “West Memphis Three” trials, Jason Baldwin

After nearly all the boys completed their prison sentences, the case was overturned. The boys never did anything to the woman running through Central Park. The

Could they be wrong? “ – Both the statements listed above involve use of the fallacy of “Begging the question” 3) “How come you believe the woman’s story, she is one of them too, isn’t she?” – This fallacy is what we call as Hasty generalization. According to him, since the woman who gave the testimony against the boy lives in the same locality as the boy, her testimony can also be doubted upon. He tries to convince other jurors with this seemingly inappropriate

Therefore, if one was colored the trial wouldn’t be in their favor. The trials either would end in the conviction of death or the least likely, time in prison. In the Scottsboro Case and the book To Kill a Mockingbird the victims lived hard lives and were influenced by others. Aside from that the physical evidence was weak as well as the testimonies. The Scottsboro Case was the only crime in American History to produce many trials, convictions, and retrials as the alleged rape of two white girls by nine black teenagers on March 25, 1931 (Linder).