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Depression
In the depths of the Depression, a fight breaks out between white and black young men who are riding as hoboes on a Southern Railroad freight train. The train is stopped by an angry posse in Paint Rock, Alabama, and nine black youths are arrested for assault. Rape charges are added, following accusations from two white women who have also come off the train, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. The accused are taken to Scottsboro, Alabama, the Jackson County seat. -
Grand Jury
A grand jury indicts all nine "Scottsboro Boys." -
Death
Before Judge A. E. Hawkins, Clarence Norris and Charlie Weems are tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. -
Death
Haywood Patterson is tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. -
Death
Olen Montgomery, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Eugene Williams, and Andy Wright are tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. -
Death
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. -
Supreme Court
The executions of the defendants are stayed pending appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court. -
Denied
A letter from Ruby Bates to a boyfriend surfaces; in it, she denies having been raped. -
Voting
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. -
Agree
The United States Supreme Court agrees to hear the case. -
Violation
In Powell v. Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the defendants were denied the right to counsel, which violated their right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. The cases are remanded to the lower court. -
Trial
Haywood Patterson's second trial begins, this time in Decatur, Alabama, before Judge James Horton. -
Ruby Bates
Ruby Bates appears as a surprise witness for the defense, denying that any rape occurred and testifying that she was with Victoria Price for the whole train ride. Her assertion that she and Price were with boyfriends the night before explains the presence of semen in their vaginas. On the stand, Dr. Bridges admits that the sperm found in his examination were non-motile, and indicates that Victoria Price showed few physical signs of having been forcibly raped by six men, as she claimed. -
Death
Patterson is found guilty and sentenced to death by electric chair. -
Death
Judge Horton sets the sentence of death for Patterson, and then suspends it on a motion for a new trial. Then, the judge postpones the trials of the other defendants because tensions in town are running too high to expect a "just and impartial verdict." -
New Trial
Judge Horton sets aside Patterson's conviction and grants a new trial. -
Judge
The cases are removed from Judge Horton's court into Judge William Callahan's court. -
Period: to
Death
The trials of Patterson and Norris end in death sentences for both. Judge Callahan's bias might be exemplified by his omissions: he forgets to explain to Patterson's jury how to render a not guilty verdict (Leibowitz reminds him before the jury goes out) and neglects to ask the mercy of God upon Norris's soul. -
Seven in Court
Seven of the defendants appear in Callahan's court. The youngest two, Roy Wright and Eugene Williams, have been transferred to a Juvenile Court. -
Defeated
Judge Horton is defeated in his bid for re-election. -
Court
The Alabama Supreme Court unanimously denies the defense motion for new trials. Leibowitz had argued that qualified blacks were systematically kept off jury rolls, and the names that were currently in the rolls had been forged after the fact. -
Police
Nashville police arrest two lawyers associated with the I.L.D. for allegedly intending to bribe Victoria Price with $1,500 to change her testimony. The lawyers were never convicted. -
First Apperance
Samuel Leibowitz makes his first appearance before the Supreme Court of the United States. He describes the absence of blacks in Jackson County juries and presents the justices with the jury rolls with forged names. The justices use magnifying glasses to determine the overlay of inks on the page. -
Norris
In Norris v. Alabama, the United States Supreme Court finds the exclusion of blacks on jury rolls deprived black defendants of their rights to equal protection under the law as guaranteed in the Fourteenth Amendment. The case is overturned and remanded to a lower court. Patterson's case is not argued before the court because of technicalities in filing dates; however, the court strongly suggests the lower courts review his case "in light of the situation which has now developed." -
Alabama
Because of the prevailing sentiments in Alabama, both Leibowitz and the I.L.D. are considered liabilities to the defendants and the defense is reorganized. The Scottsboro Defense Committee (SDC) is formed with Allan Knight Chalmers as chairman, and a local attorney, Clarence Watts, is named co-counsel. -
Patterson
Patterson is found guilty and sentenced to 75 years in prison. The sentence is a compromise between the foreman, who thought the defendant innocent, and the rest of the jury. -
Birmingham
While being transported back to Birmingham Jail, Ozie Powell pulls a knife and slashes Deputy Edgar Blalock's throat. Sheriff Jay Sandlin stops the car and shoots Powell in the head. Both Blalock and Powell survive. -
Thomas
Prosecuting attorney Lieutenant Governor Thomas Knight meets Leibowitz in New York to negotiate a compromise. -
Death
Thomas Knight dies. -
Conviction
The Alabama Supreme Court upholds Patterson's conviction. -
Trial
The third trial of Clarence Norris ends in a death sentence. Pressure from his community, and his defeat in this case, causes Watts to fall ill, leaving Leibowitz to lead the defense. -
99 Years
The trial of Andy Wright ends in conviction and a sentence of 99 years. -
75 Years
The trial of Charley Weems ends in conviction and a sentence of 75 years. -
20 Years
Ozie Powell pleads guilty to assaulting Blalock and is sentenced to 20 years. Rape charges are dropped. -
Rape charges
Rape charges against the last four defendants, Olen Montgomery, Willie Roberson, Eugene Williams, and Roy Wright, are dropped. -
Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear the appeal of Haywood Patterson. -
Five convicted
Alabama Governor Bibb Graves meets with Allan Knight Chalmers to discuss granting clemency to the five convicted Scottsboro defendants. -
Supreme Court
The Alabama Supreme Court affirms the sentences given Norris, Andy Wright and Weems. -
Governor
Governor Graves commutes Norris's death sentence to life imprisonment. -
Alabama parole
An Alabama parole board recommends a denial of parole for Patterson and Powell. -
Governor Graves
Governor Graves meets with the convicted Scottsboro defendants in his office to consider parole. -
Dienied five
Governor Graves denies the pardon applications of all five Scottsboro defendants. -
Released
Weems is released on parole. -
Released
Andy Wright and Clarence Norris are released on parole. -
Return
Wright and Norris leave Alabama, in violation of their parole. Chalmers persuades them to return to the South and, despite promises to be lenient, both are returned to jail, Norris in October 1944, Wright in October 1946. -
Released
Ozie Powell is released on parole. -
Paroled
Clarence Norris is paroled again. -
Escape
Haywood Patterson escapes from prison. -
Paroled
Andy Wright is paroled. He finds a job in Albany, New York. -
FBI
Patterson is arrested by the FBI in Detroit; Michigan Governor G. Mennen Williams refuses to sign the extradition papers to return him to Alabama. Alabama abandons attempts to return him to prison. -
6 to 15 Years
Patterson is convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 6 to 15 years. -
Bathroom brawl
Patterson is charged with murder after a barroom brawl. -
Cancer
Patterson dies of cancer. -
Death
Roy Wright dies. -
Pardon
Clarence Norris is pardoned by Alabama Governor George Wallace. -
NBC
Victoria Price files a lawsuit against NBC for defamation and invasion of privacy after the broadcast of Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys; her claim is dismissed. -
Death
Clarence Norris, the last of the Scottsboro Boys, dies.