Scottsboro Trial

The Train Ride

Mar 25, 1931

Nine African American boys were taking a train to seek jobs when a group of white men stepped on the hand of one of the boys. A fight then breaks out on the train. The white men hopped off the train and told the train master they were attacked. Two women by the names Victoria Price and Ruby Bates claimed they were raped. The young black gentlemen were then arrested and taken to Scottsboro, Alabama.

The Trials

Apr 6, 1931

Clarence Norris and Charlie Weems are convicted and sentenced to death. The following days of April 7-9 Haywood Patterson, Olen Mnotgomery, Ozie Powell, Willie Robertson, Eugene Williams, and Andy Wright are all also convicted and sentenced to death.

Roy Wright

Apr 9, 1931

Roy Wright was only 13 years of age when this incidient happened and the jury got stuck on whether to put him in jail for life or sentence him to death. Eleven jurors voted for death but one said life in prison.

The Letter

Jan 5, 1932

A letter from Ruby Bates to one of her boyfriends surfaced and in it she denied to being raped by the nine boys. This ground breaking evidence that changed the case.

Alabama Supreme Court

Mar 24, 1932

The Alabama Supreme Court upholds the convictions of the defendents and grants Eugene Williams a new trial because he was a juvenille when he was convicted.

Ruby Bates

Apr 6, 1933

RubyBates appears in court as a suprise witness for the defense denying of any rape and she was with Victoria Price the whole train ride. She then further explains how she and Victoria were with their boyfriends the night before and the evidence they gathered from their examination was not from the nine boys.

Haywood Patterson

Jan 23, 1936

Haywood Patterson is found guilty and was sentenced to 75 years in prison. The sentence was a compromise due to a foreman who thought the defendent was innocent and all of the jury who belived he was guilty.

Round three

Jun 12, 1937

Clarence Norris ends his third trial with the death sentence. Due to the pressure of the case it caused his defence attorney Watts to become ill.

Pattersons Conviction

Jun 14, 1937

After being convicted 4 times for rape, Patterson's conviction on 75 years in prison was uphelf by the Alabama Supreme Court.

Rape Charges Dropped

Jun 24, 1937

The rape charges on Olen Montgomery, Willie Robertson, Eugene Williams, and Roy Wright are dropped.

Andy Wright

Jul 20, 1937

Andy Wright is sentenced to 99 years of prison. Mongomery, Alabama is were he was in prison and he got assulted by guards and prisoners. He then was sent to the prisoners hospital.

Charley Weems

Jul 22, 1937

Charley Weems was convicted and sentenced to 75 years of prison. After his fellow defendents just lost their cases his defense attorney got very frustrated with trying to convince an all white jury that he was innocent.

Ozie Powell

Jul 23, 1937

Ozie Powell pleads guily to assaulting Blalock with his pocket knife and is sentenced to 20 years of prison. Rape charges were then droppped.

Charley Weems is Released

Nov 17, 1938

Weems is released on parole. He was offered a job in Atlanta and settled down with a wife. He has had eye problems due to tear gas he experienced in the last decade.

Parole for Two More of the Boys

Jan 1, 1944

Andy Wright and Clarence Norris are released on parole. Andy Wright found work near Montgomery but hated it as much as prison. Clarence Norris fled north violating his parole.

Parole for Another...

Jun 1, 1946

Ozie Powell is released on parole. He returned to live in Georgia.

Clarence Norris Gets a Second Chance

Sep 1, 1946

Clarence Norris is paroled again after he violated his first realease on parole by leaving Alabama to go to the north.

Another Second Chance

Jun 9, 1948

Andy Wright is released on parole once again and finds a job in Albany, New York.