Scottsboro Boys
Alexandra Ambros
Summarize
1.The Scottsboro Boys case involved nine African American youths who were indicted in Scottsboro, Alabama in 1931 and quickly sentenced to death for the crime of rape of two young white women.
2.The case against Roy Wright, aged 13, ends in a hung jury when 11 jurors seek a death sentence, and one votes for life imprisonment.
3. The Alabama Supreme Court, voting 6-1, upholds the convictions of seven of the defendants, granting Eugene Williams a new trial because he was a juvenile at the time of his conviction.
4.Roberson's six years in jail were difficult , Roberson suffered from asthma, and the lack of fresh air available aggravated his condition.
5.The case was returned to the lower court and the judge allowed a change of venue, moving the retrials to Decatur ,Alabama Judge Horton was appointed. During the retrials, one of the alleged victims admitted fabricating the rape story and asserted that none of the Scottsboro Boys touched either of the white women. The jury found the defendants guilty, but the judge set aside the verdict and granted a new trial. After a new series of trials, the verdict was the same: guilty
The 9 boys
Clarence Norris, Charlie Weems, Haywood Patterson, Olen Montgomery, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Eugene Williamson, Andy Wright, and Roy
The 2 young white girl
Victoria Price, 21, and Ruby Bates, 17
Scootsboro Boys
They were counting how many of the scottsboro were left
A Key Person
Roy Wright
Roy Wright , thirteen when he was arrested, was the youngest of the Scottsboro Boys.He later said that he did so after having been threatened and severely beaten by authorities , Roy has a brother name Andy Wright he was also was accused of rape towards the 2 young white girls.The prosecution agreed that 13-year-old Roy Wright was too young for the death penalty and did not seek it. Roy was he was arrested and spent the next six years in jail along with the others 8 boys.
An Event List
1.March 27: Haywood Patterson's second trial begins, this time in Decatur, Alabama, before Judge James Horton.
2.November 20: Seven of the defendants appear in Callahan's court. The youngest two, Roy Wright and Eugene Williams, have been transferred to a Juvenile Court.
3.April 6-7: Before Judge A. E. Hawkins, Clarence Norris and Charlie Weems are tried, convicted, and sentenced to death.