Matthew Miller

Mr. McConnell
English 9
January 24, 2017
Trial Analysis
The town of Maycomb was rocked to its very core when the case of Tom Robinsons rape
accusation surfaced. The town of Maycomb rarely saw such heinous crimes and was outraged.
what makes the matter worse was that Tom Robinson was black. Maycomb was a southern town
in the era of the Great Depression. Racism ran rampant through the south and Maycomb was a
prime example of that. Tom Robinson was found guilty under some very controversial evidence
and was sentenced to prison. While Tom Robinsons fate has been sealed, this paper will outline
the jurys verdict and the evidence that supports it, my personal verdict, and how the racial bias
of the town may have affected Tom Robinsons verdict.
The jury has made their decision and Tom Robinson was found guilty of all accusations
by the jury. The jury based their decision on the fact that Tom Robinson had a criminal charge in
the past, had little to no witnesses in his favor or concrete evidence, and most importantly, the
fact that he was black. Tom Robinsons criminal past did not help his chances at all. He once
received thirty days for disorderly conduct Got in a fight with another man, he tried to cut
me. (Lee 254) His charge of assault and his thirty-day sentence was a huge detriment to his
case, discrediting his most important and only piece of evidence, his testimony. While Tom
Robinsons testimony was the most in-depth, the most reliable, and the one least pulled apart by
cross-examination, it was his only piece of evidence aside from Atticuss cross-examination.

Since Tom Robinson himself was not a reliable source of information because of the small fact
that he was being accused, his testimony was incredibly weak. Then, comes the small matter of
Tom Robinson being black, in the south, in the nineteen thirties. Maycombs location and time
period put African American men in a very tight spot. Racism was rampant and African
Americans were treated like dogs, especially men. Men were treated as rapists, animals, and
incredibly dangerous entities (Lee 273) and Maycomb County had never seen a black man go
free. (Lee 285) For that reason alone, Tom Robinsons case was doomed three times over before
the case even started. Combined with his criminal record and his weak case gave Tom Robinson
almost no chance.
While Tom Robinson was found guilty of all accusations, his conviction was very
controversial. Almost no evidence pointed to him doing the crimes, in fact it pointed at the
Ewells. Tom Robinson lost simply because he was black, but the evidence points to a different
ending and I think deep down the town knew the truth. Tom Robinson was innocent. The first
piece of evidence comes from Bob Ewells testimony. During his testimony, Atticus asks for Bob
Ewells description of Mayellas injuries and if he agrees with everything Heck Tate has said.
Do you agree with his description of Mayellas injuries? Hows thatOh yeah, said the
witness. I hold exactly with everything Tate said. Instead of answering, he keeps saying that
he agrees with Heck Tates testimony, never fully describing her injuries. (Lee 235) This points
to Bob Ewell not wanting to reveal holes in his story. The less he says, the less mistakes he
makes. The second piece of evidence comes from Mayellas black eye. Heck Tate states that
Mayella had a black eye comin, and that it was on her right eye. (Lee 224 225) Now as we
all know, Tom Robinson has one good arm that he uses. The odds are that this would have been
hard to inflict by Tom Robinson who only has his right hand, (Lee 248) but would have been

very easy to do by her father who was left handed. The third piece of evidence comes from
Mayellas testimony. Her testimony continuously contradicts itself and describes situations that
could not possibly happen, such as Tom choking her and beating her at the same time. There are
also small points in Mayellas testimony that points to abuse caused by her fathers drinking.
He does tolerable, cept when--- except when hes been drinking? asked Atticus so gently
that Mayella nodded. (Lee 245) This gives us a suspect, Bob Ewell. Through the testimony of
Tom Robinson and the evidence from the cross examinations we get this story. Mayella Ewell
was a lonely girl left at home with no friend to speak of when she sees a nice looking black man.
Driven by lust she invites him into her house gaining his trust over the months, finally after
bribing the kids off the property with ice cream she makes her move. Clutching Tom, she begins
to make romantic advances with him as Tom Robinson tries to stop her without hurting her,
fearing facing court. Bob Ewell comes to the property assumingly drunk and sees Mayella trying
to kiss a black man. He yells and Mayella lets go out of fear and Tom Robinson sprints off the
property avoiding both the threat of Bob Ewell and the threat of facing the court. All the
evidence points to this being how the scene went down that night and there is no question in my
mind that Tom Robinson is innocent without any doubt.
Now the jurys testimony has been drawn into serious question given the evidence, but I
think I know the reason. It all comes down to how Maycomb views its people, their universe of
obligations if you will. Maycomb is a town that focuses very heavily on stereotypical roles,
women are to act like women, men are to act like men, and African Americans are all lesser
beings. (Lee 311) Women were supposed to be pure, delicate, beautiful flowers that could never
to anything dirty or think any unclean thoughts. (Lee 108) Men were to provide for the family, be
strong, and never cry. African Americans are to be feared as feral animals and should be kept

away women and children, especially men. When Tom Robinson stood on that stand, he was
already doomed. His jurors thought of him as little more than an object and they were furious
that a dirty black man would ever take advantage of a pure young white woman. From the
minute, Mayella opened her mouth to yell, Tom Robinson was already a doomed man.
In conclusion, Tom Robinson was an innocent man, wrongly convicted by a jury that
could not look past the color of his skin. Maycombs vicious protection of their white women
and their hatred of black men doomed Tom Robinsons case from the very start. A huge injustice
was committed in the court this day, a disgrace to the USs values of equality. Tom Robinson was
a good, honest man and it sickens me to see him wrongly convicted because of the color of his
skin.