In the South of the United States in the 1930´s, the justice system was very unfair towards colored people. Colored people that were sent to court could not receive a fair trial because of the prejudice and racism from the jury. This happened all the time, especially in Maycomb Alabama. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a colored man named Tom Robinson was convicted of assaulting a white woman just because of the color of his skin. Tom Robinson should have been found not guilty for many reasons. First, Tom Robinson should have been found not guilty because he was right handed. Mayella the victim, was punched in the face on the night of the crime. On page 235, Mr. Heck Tate stated that Mayella had a black eye on her right eye …show more content…
No medical evidence was ever collected or shown to prove that the crime ever took place. On the night after the assault, Mayella Ewell was never seen be a doctor. She was never examined to prove that Tom Robinson did anything to her. Mayella stated that she was beaten that night, so she should have gone to the doctor to get checked out. There is no proof of any crime, so there should not have been a guilty verdict. The Ewells could have been lying because most likely Mayella tempted Tom. Back then if you were involved with a colored person you were disgraced by the whole town. Mayella could have been trying to cover this up and get Tom arrested so he wouldn't be able to tell anyone. The jury convicted Tom Robinson because he was colored and back then white people believed they had to stick together against the colored people. This shows that based on the evidence Tom Robinson was only convicted because of his skin color. Based on all the information provided at the trial of Tom Robinson the jury should have found him not guilty. But in the south, white people were racist towards people of color. As a result of this Tom Robinson was found guilty with no evidence to prove that he was. In this trial, the jury was racist and prejudice towards Tom Robinson and that lead to him being found guilty of a crime that had no medical evidence at
Primarily, we have three witnesses’ testimonies proving Tom Robinson guilty, including Tom’s statement that showed admission to guilt. Mr. Heck Tate was our first witness testifying against Tom. Mr. Heck Tate had stated Miss Mayella was in a terrible condition when he saw her after her father
Like when the prosecutor stated, ‘“You were given thirty days once for disorderly conduct, Robinson?”’ (Lee 223). This is followed by the fact that Tom got into a fight. Showing that he has a history of violence, also proves that he could easily harm someone with only one working arm. This ties in with Mayella’s injuries, bruises were found all over the right side of her face.
His left hand doesn't work, so he couldn't have beat Mayella. Also, no medical evidence was ever presented for the case so no evidence of a rape occurring actually exists. After the jury had been gone for 3 hours discussing the testimonies, they entered the courtroom with the final verdict. Tom Robinson was found guilty. After he was taken to jail, he was shot 17 times and unfortunately killed.
This had a great impact on Tom Robinson's trial because he was seen as inferior to the jury, Bob Ewell, and his daughter, Mayella Ewell. The jury decided to take the words of the superior even though Tom was not guilty. The results of the trial were biased because of the unfair laws that even influenced the decisions of the jury during the
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the story is set in the 1900’s, Maycomb, Alabama. During this time there was racism in the south and segregation which separated the whites and blacks from everything. There was also the Great Depression, the whole country was poor and people living in the country had to trade and do other jobs for people to either pay them off or to buy something from them. The trial in this book is about Mayella and Bob Ewell, two white people, claiming and arguing that Tom Robinson, a black person, raped Mayella Ewell. This trial is really important because at that time in the south, white people took advantage of black people and their kindness and thought they would take that or shut up just because they were black.
On the day of Tom Robinson’s trial in the courtroom, Tom Robinson received a guilty verdict. Tom Robinson received a guilty verdict because he is a black man, a “Negroe” and black people can’t be trusted, according to the society. People filled the courtroom for Tom Robinson’s trial. Tom Robinson was accused of raping a white young women, Mayella Ewell who was 19 years of age. The judge was judge Taylor.
Despite these facts, and the fact that MayElla Ewell basically admitted to perjury, Tom Robinson was still convicted and later murdered brutally in the same way that Rodney King was beat brutally. Ultimately, black-white trials were a series of back and forth situations, he-said-she-said encounters, whose word is more valuable than the other paradoxes. And whether or not an African American individual being tried with a crime was actually guilty, if they were put up against a white person, their word would automatically be unavailing (or futile) in comparison. No matter what they said, they were still black and that was enough for most juries to
The jury came to the conclusion, with no evidence the offense happened, that Tom Robinson was guilty. Based on the grudges and resentments of those men, Tom Robinson was never going to receive a fair trial with the jury given. ANTICIPATE THE DEFENSE
Tom being a black man in a white man’s world, he was convicted by the jury. Atticus explains, “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (Lee 295). Tom Robinson was clearly declared guilty due to his color not act. In fact as Tom states, “‘I was just tryin’ to help you out, suh”’ (Lee 263).
Tom was accused of raping a white woman who was Mayella Ewell, Mayella said he raped her while he was helping her with chores. She later on tells the readers that it was false allegations. The reason why she didn 't tell the truth at her first trial was because, Mayella was afraid of being embarrassed because she kissed a black male. She rather have an innocent man get charged with a crime than that. “However, Robinson was transferred from the state prison to Maycomb 's county jail on Saturday, two days before he stood trial on Monday, and Atticus had to defend him against a lynch mob”.
On top of this, the court and jury are biased enough to even overlook evidence that proves Tom’s innocence. According to Mr. Heck Tate, he found Mayella “bunged up on [the right] side of her face,” which would had been his left, while looking at her (Lee 225). The importance of this is, Tom Robinson would had not been able to punch Mayella on the right side of her face. This is because of the fact that he was “crippled… [and] his left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right… [and] ended in a small shriveled hand,” thus proving that he would be unable to punch Mayella on the right side of her face, as that required the dominance, and power, of someone who actually had a left hand (Lee 248). Therefore, proving that Tom had no part in harming Mayella.
All evidence pointed to Mr. Ewell as the offender, a man who spends all his money on whiskey and lets his children cry from starvation. While, Tom Robinson is a good person, with a good job and a good family but with a bad, bad skin color. And that's the important factor. The judge, jury, both lawyers, practically the entire town knew that Tom was innocent.
According to the book To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, I believe Tom Robinson is innocent. The crime that Tom Robinson is getting charged for is that he had raped Mayella Ewell. There are many reasons of why I believe Tom Robinson is not guilty. For instance, Tom Robinson’s left arm was not strong enough nor working, so he didn’t have the strength to do what Mr. Ewell and Mayella said he did. One reason why it is believed that Mayella was raped was because she had said, “I said come here nigger, and bust up this chiffarobe for me” (Lee 241).
Because the jury did not favor black men, Tom Robinson did not receive a fair trial, although Atticus made a great case. Segregation directly disobeys the fourteenth amendment, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” Maycomb Alabama is where the story, To Kill a Mockingbird takes place. Tom Robinson’s trial out come was not based on factual evidence. Mayella was lying to the jury, while Tom was completely innocent.
Tom Robinson is a young African-American who's been accused of raping and abusing Mayella Ewell, a young and closeted white woman. Racial discrimination is hinted throughout Tom’s trial as Atticus Finch explains to Jem that a white man’s word will always win over that of a black man’s - "... In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life" (220). Atticus explains to Jem that in the courts of Maycomb, a black man’s state of innocence or guilt is truly determined by a white man’s testimony.