To Kill A Mockingbird Historical Basis
While To Kill A Mockingbird is a work of fiction, it is not unrealistic possibility. In fact, a case much the one brought against Tom Robinson occurred in Scottsboro, Alabama in the early 1930s. The fact that To Kill A Mockingbird so closely resembles a historical event in Alabama history should not go unappreciated by readers. Just like the trial in To Kill A Mockingbird, the Scottsboro case was put forth by a white woman who falsely accused not one but nine black man of rape. The accuser's name was Mrs. Victoria Price. Initially, her story was supported by the testimony of her friend Ruby Bates. Ms. Bates had been with Mrs. Price when the rape allegedly occurred during a trip from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Scottsboro, Alabama. Riding in a gravel car of a freight train Victoria Price claimed to have been attacked and assaulted by the group that came to be known as the "Scottsboro Nine."
The initial trial began on April 6, 1931, just twelve days after the March 25th arrest of the Scottsboro Nine. This trial lasted a total of three days, at which time eight of the original nine were found guilty and sentenced to death. The one defendant who was not found guilty was Roy Wright, aged 13. His trial ended in a hung jury; with 11 jurors seek a death sentence, and one voting for life imprisonment.
Price and Bates Testimony
Below is an excerpt from the testimony of Victoria Price during the original trial in the spring on 1931. In this excerpt Mrs. Price is being examined by Steve Roddy, one of two attorneys appointed to the defendants Charley Weems and Clarence Norris
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT, JACKSON COUNTY, ALABAMA.
Spring Term 1931
STATE OF ALABAMA
(287)
vs
CHARLEY WEEMS,
CLARENCE NORRIS
Q Were you struck about the body or head?
A My back was bruised up; I was choked and everything else.
Q Did they have to knock you down?
A He knocked me to my knees
Q Get you entirely down?
A Sure, he asked me to lay down, he threw me down.
Q He had to throw you down?
A He must have did.
Q Do you know what he did?
A Sure, do you think I am crazy?
Q Were you beat up about the body?
A My back was beaten up.
Q Which one bruised you up?
A The one that had a knife on me.
Q Did you say anything to the boys?
A Yes sir, we was begging them to quit and they wouldn’t do it.
Q You were begging them to quit?
A Yes sir.
Q And they beat you unconscious?
A No sir, they did not beat me unconscious, I did not say they beat me unconscious; I was unconscious when I got off the train at Paint.
Q Do you remember getting off the train at Paint Rock?
A No sir, when I came to myself I was sitting in a store; I don’t know who took me off.
Q Do you know where you were taken from the grocery store and who took you?
A Yes sir, I was taken to the jail at Mr. Wann’s.
Q Here in Scottsboro?
A Yes sir.
Q And have been there ever since?
A Yes sir. I have been there ever since.
Q You don’t know who took you off the train?
A Yes sir, I took myself nearly off and fell the rest of the way.
Q Did the officers come in this gondola and get you?
A No sir, I climbed up on the side of the gondola myself with Ruby’s help and when I got to the last step I fell and when I came to myself I was sitting in a store.
A My back was bruised up; I was choked and everything else.
Q Did they have to knock you down?
A He knocked me to my knees
Q Get you entirely down?
A Sure, he asked me to lay down, he threw me down.
Q He had to throw you down?
A He must have did.
Q Do you know what he did?
A Sure, do you think I am crazy?
Q Were you beat up about the body?
A My back was beaten up.
Q Which one bruised you up?
A The one that had a knife on me.
Q Did you say anything to the boys?
A Yes sir, we was begging them to quit and they wouldn’t do it.
Q You were begging them to quit?
A Yes sir.
Q And they beat you unconscious?
A No sir, they did not beat me unconscious, I did not say they beat me unconscious; I was unconscious when I got off the train at Paint.
Q Do you remember getting off the train at Paint Rock?
A No sir, when I came to myself I was sitting in a store; I don’t know who took me off.
Q Do you know where you were taken from the grocery store and who took you?
A Yes sir, I was taken to the jail at Mr. Wann’s.
Q Here in Scottsboro?
A Yes sir.
Q And have been there ever since?
A Yes sir. I have been there ever since.
Q You don’t know who took you off the train?
A Yes sir, I took myself nearly off and fell the rest of the way.
Q Did the officers come in this gondola and get you?
A No sir, I climbed up on the side of the gondola myself with Ruby’s help and when I got to the last step I fell and when I came to myself I was sitting in a store.
Mrs. Price's testimony, though dubious, was enough to convict eight of the nine defendants. Two years later the appeals of the defendants were put in motion. In a startling turn, the testimony of Ms. Bates, who had been Mrs. Price's corroborating witness just two years earlier, recanted her previous testimony. Her new testimony in the trial for defendant Haywood Patterson cast the validity of Mrs. Price's accusations in serious doubt. Below is an excerpt of Ms. Bates's testimony, which was given on April 7, 1933. The examination is being given by Mr. Samuel S. Leibowitz, chief council for the defense.
[Here, Mr. Leibowitz is questioning Ms. Bates about what happened while she was on the freight train, riding in a gravel car called a "gondola"]
Q What happened?
A And after a while there was a bunch of negroes come over and started fighting; they was all fighting and Lester Carter and this Gilley boy jumped over to help them out.
Q You mean Lester Carter and Gilley left the gondola in which you were in and went into the next gondola where the fight was between the white boys and the negroes?
A Yes sir.
Q Then what happened?
A The negroes put all the boys off but one, Orville Gilley, and he came back in the car where we were.
Q Then what happened, when you, Victoria Price, and Gilley were there, did the negroes come in that car where you were?
A Not that I know of.
Q Did any negro attack you that day?
A Not that I know of.
Q Did any negro attack Victoria Price that day?
A I couldn’t say.
Q Did you see any negro attack Victoria that day?
A No sir.
COURT: Where was Victoria Price?
A She was in the gondola where I was.
COURT: Same Gondola with you?
A Yes sir.
COURT: Did you stay in the same gondola until you got to Paint Rock?
A Yes sir.
Q When you got to Paint Rock the train stopped, didn’t it?
A Yes sir.
Q What happened when the train stopped, what happened to your girls?
A Well, we got off the train, then Victoria was unconscious and they carried her out there to a store.
Q Then what happened?
A They arrested them.
Q Arrested all the negroes?
A Yes sir.
Q They took you to Scottsboro?
A Yes sir.
Q Were you in jail with Victoria at Scottsboro?
A Yes sir.
Q Did you talk with her at Scottsboro?
A Yes sir.
Q You testified on the trial, did you not; each one of those cases in Scottsboro, you took the witness stand?
A Yes sir.
Q You told the story you had seen six negroes rape Victoria Price and six negroes raped you; you told a story like that?
A I told it before, but I was excited.
Q You testified at Scottsboro that six negroes raped you and six negroes raped her, and one had a knife on your throat; what happened to her was exactly the same thing that happened to you. Who coached you to say that?
A She told it and I told it just like she did.
Q Who told you to tell that story?
A I told it like she told it.
Q Who told you to do that, who coached you to do that?
A She did.
Q Did she tell you what would happen to you if you didn’t follow her story?
A She said we might have to lay out a sentence in jail.
Q What happened?
A And after a while there was a bunch of negroes come over and started fighting; they was all fighting and Lester Carter and this Gilley boy jumped over to help them out.
Q You mean Lester Carter and Gilley left the gondola in which you were in and went into the next gondola where the fight was between the white boys and the negroes?
A Yes sir.
Q Then what happened?
A The negroes put all the boys off but one, Orville Gilley, and he came back in the car where we were.
Q Then what happened, when you, Victoria Price, and Gilley were there, did the negroes come in that car where you were?
A Not that I know of.
Q Did any negro attack you that day?
A Not that I know of.
Q Did any negro attack Victoria Price that day?
A I couldn’t say.
Q Did you see any negro attack Victoria that day?
A No sir.
COURT: Where was Victoria Price?
A She was in the gondola where I was.
COURT: Same Gondola with you?
A Yes sir.
COURT: Did you stay in the same gondola until you got to Paint Rock?
A Yes sir.
Q When you got to Paint Rock the train stopped, didn’t it?
A Yes sir.
Q What happened when the train stopped, what happened to your girls?
A Well, we got off the train, then Victoria was unconscious and they carried her out there to a store.
Q Then what happened?
A They arrested them.
Q Arrested all the negroes?
A Yes sir.
Q They took you to Scottsboro?
A Yes sir.
Q Were you in jail with Victoria at Scottsboro?
A Yes sir.
Q Did you talk with her at Scottsboro?
A Yes sir.
Q You testified on the trial, did you not; each one of those cases in Scottsboro, you took the witness stand?
A Yes sir.
Q You told the story you had seen six negroes rape Victoria Price and six negroes raped you; you told a story like that?
A I told it before, but I was excited.
Q You testified at Scottsboro that six negroes raped you and six negroes raped her, and one had a knife on your throat; what happened to her was exactly the same thing that happened to you. Who coached you to say that?
A She told it and I told it just like she did.
Q Who told you to tell that story?
A I told it like she told it.
Q Who told you to do that, who coached you to do that?
A She did.
Q Did she tell you what would happen to you if you didn’t follow her story?
A She said we might have to lay out a sentence in jail.
Despite the testimony of Ms. Bates, which raised considerable reasonable doubt as to the guilt of Haywood Patterson, the jury found him guilty for a second time on April 9, 1933 and sentenced to be executed on June 16, 1933. The execution was delayed and on June 22, 1933 judge Horton weighed in with a ruling that stunned the courtroom. Based on a lack of corroborating evidence Judge Horton "set aside" the guilty verdict on the grounds that the evidence presented at trial did not warrant conviction.
The following is the conclusion and summary of the ruling handed down by Judge Horton on June 22, 1933.
FROM THE OPINION OF JUDGE JAMES E. HORTON,
JUNE 22, 1933
History, sacred and profane, and the common experience of mankind teach us that women take the character shown in this case are prone for selfish reasons to make false accusations both of rape and insult upon the slightest provocation, or even without provocation for ulterior purposes. These women are shown, by the great weight of the evidence, on this very day before leaving Chattanooga, to have falsely accused two negroes of insulting them, and of almost precipitating a fight between one of the white boys they were in company with and these two negroes. This tendency on the part of the women shows that they are predisposed to make false accusations upon any occasion whereby their selfish ends may be gained.
The Court will not pursue the evidence any farther.
As heretofore stated the law declares that a defendant should not be convicted without corroboration where the testimony of the prosecutrix bears on its face indications of unreliability of improbability and particularly when it is contradicted by other evidence.
The testimony of the prosecutrix in case is not only uncorroborated, but it also bears on its face indications of improbability and is contradicted by other evidence, and in addition thereto the evidence greatly preponderates in favor of the defendant. It therefore becomes the duty of the Court under the law to grant the motion in this case.
It is therefore ordered and adjudged by the Court that the motion be granted; that the verdict of the jury in this case and the judgment of the Court sentencing this defendant to death be, and the same hereby is, set aside and that a new trial be and the same hereby is ordered.
JAMES E. HORTON
Circuit Judge
FROM THE OPINION OF JUDGE JAMES E. HORTON,
JUNE 22, 1933
History, sacred and profane, and the common experience of mankind teach us that women take the character shown in this case are prone for selfish reasons to make false accusations both of rape and insult upon the slightest provocation, or even without provocation for ulterior purposes. These women are shown, by the great weight of the evidence, on this very day before leaving Chattanooga, to have falsely accused two negroes of insulting them, and of almost precipitating a fight between one of the white boys they were in company with and these two negroes. This tendency on the part of the women shows that they are predisposed to make false accusations upon any occasion whereby their selfish ends may be gained.
The Court will not pursue the evidence any farther.
As heretofore stated the law declares that a defendant should not be convicted without corroboration where the testimony of the prosecutrix bears on its face indications of unreliability of improbability and particularly when it is contradicted by other evidence.
The testimony of the prosecutrix in case is not only uncorroborated, but it also bears on its face indications of improbability and is contradicted by other evidence, and in addition thereto the evidence greatly preponderates in favor of the defendant. It therefore becomes the duty of the Court under the law to grant the motion in this case.
It is therefore ordered and adjudged by the Court that the motion be granted; that the verdict of the jury in this case and the judgment of the Court sentencing this defendant to death be, and the same hereby is, set aside and that a new trial be and the same hereby is ordered.
JAMES E. HORTON
Circuit Judge
Judge Horton's decision, however, was just one step along the legal journey that the Scottsboro Boys would face. Their ordeal was far from over. Please view the following links for some excellent coverage on the Scottsboro case. Here you can find a detailed time line of events, public quotes related to the case, information about the Scottsboro Boys, Ruby Bates and Victoria Price, as well as many of the other persons involved in the course of this case.