Maycomb TribuneAugust 15, 1935

Atticus Finch with the accused Tom Robinson

e Tom Robinson Trial: An Injustice?

2 Maycomb Tribune

Atticus questioning Mayella Ewell

Bob Ewell, Father of the victim

Atticus is Defending A Black Man

Testimony of Bob Ewell- I am the father

of Mayella Ewell. Before sundown, I

was coming in from the woods, and

when I got to the fence he heard Mayel-

la screaming. I ran up to the window

(three feet off of the ground) and saw

Tom raping Mayella. The room looked

like there had been a fight there. I saw

that it was Tom, and then I ran inside.

A"er I Saw Mayella, I went straight to

Mr. Tate. I have asked the county for fif-

teen years to clean the nest of Negroes,

as they are dangerous to live around. I

also didn't contact a doctor.

Injuries Mentioned: Completely agreed

with Mr. Tate's description of the in-

juries. Mayella had many bruises, neck

injuries, and a right black eye.

Questioning of Atticus- When ques-

tioned by Atticus, it was found out that

the person who raped Mayella was le"

handed and Bob Ewell is le" handed

too which it easier for him to beat her

right eye.

Testimony of Heck Tate- On November

21st, I was leaving his office when Mr.

Ewell came in and said a Negro raped

his daughter. That was when I got in his

car and went to Mr. Ewell's house.

When I got there, she was badly beaten

and when I asked her who did it, she

said it was Tom Robinson. I drove to

Tom's house and brought him back

and she identified him as the one. I

didn't call for any doctor.

Injuries Mentioned: They were around

her head, bruises on her arm that hap-

pened about thirty minutes before. She

had a black eye coming on her right

eye. There were more injuries on the

back of her neck.

Questioning of Atticus- When Atticus

asked him about the reason of not call-

ing a doctor despite the injuries, Heck

Tate said that he didn't feel need for a

doctor.

Tom Robinson was convicted of rape of

Mayella Ewell, the daughter of Bob

Ewell on November 21. Atticus was de-

fending him against the jury. When

Tom Robinson came in the courtroom,

everyone started to make their own

stories.

There were a lot of testimonies heard

but Tom's testimony was never consid-

ered true. Atticus Finch put a lot of ar-

guments against the testimonies of

Mayella and Bob Ewell that Tom Robin-

son could have been proven not guilty.

But the jury was blindfolded by the

rules of the society. Testimonies that

were heard during the trial were from

Heck Tate, Bob Ewell, Mayella Ewell,

and Tom Robinson.

Testimony of Mayella Ewell- At dusk on

November 21st, I was sitting on the

front porch doing nothing. I am nine-

teen and a half years old. I was sup-

posed to chop up an old chiffarobe. I

wasn't feeling very strong so I asked

Tom to do it for me. I said I would pay

him a nickel. When I went in the house

to get a nickel for him, I turned around

and he was on me. He grabbed me

around my neck and repeatedly hit me.

While he was doing this, I kicked and

screamed as loud as I could. The next

thing that I remembered was Mr. Ewell

standing over me saying 'who done it?

Who done it?' Then I fainted.

Questioning by Atticus- Atticus ques-

tioned her about her relationship with

her father and she said that it was a

very good relationship and he was easy

to get along with except when he was

drunk. She denied that her father had

ever beaten her. Tom was well known

to her but she had never asked him to

come inside the fence. She wasn't sure

whether Tom had beaten her face or

not. She reclaimed that when she

turned around, he was there. She

didn't have a chance to run. When Atti-

cus asked her about her siblings listen-

ing to her screams, she didn't respond.

3Maycomb Tribune

Jury of the Court Case

Tom Robinson testifying

Now, it is your time decide whether the

judgement of the jury about Tom was

justified or not?

Evidence- According to Tate and Bob,

Mayella had injuries on her right side of

the body meaning they were given by

someone who was le"-handed. Tom

was right-handed since he had his le"-

arm damaged in an incident. Bob was

the one who was proven to be le"-

handed when Atticus told him to write

his name on a piece of paper. It meant

that Bob was the one was used to beat

Mayella and probably sexually abused

her. That was the reason that Mayella

lied about Tom, as she was scared of

her father. Her father had said that he

wanted to eliminate all the black men

from the society. When Atticus asked

Mayella about her siblings not re-

sponding to her scream, she was quiet.

Mayella never paid Tom but this time,

he was coming inside to get paid. Tom

said that the chair was the only top-

pled furniture in the room where as

Bob said that the whole room was

messed up like there was a fight. All the

evidence proved the innocence of Tom

Robinson.

Decision of the Jury- The jury had al-

ready decided to imprison Tom before

the court case started. Atticus gave a

lot of evidence to the courtroom to

prove the innocence of Tom but the

jury sticked to its decision.

Testimony of Tom Robinson- On my

way home on November 21st, I passed

Mayella on the porch. She asked me to

come inside to fix the door hinges. I

pulled the door back and forth and saw

that nothing was wrong with it. Then,

she shut the door in my face. Then I

asked, "Where are the children?" She

said that they went to town to buy ice

cream. She asked me to come inside,

step up on a chair, and get a box off of

the top of the chiffarobe. When I got up

on top of the chair, Mayella grabbed

me around the legs. I was so scared

that I jumped off of the chair and it

tipped over. That was the only toppled

over piece of furniture in the room.

Then I turned around and she jumped

on me and hugged me around the

waist. Then she kissed me on the side

of the face and she told me to kiss her

back. She said that she has never been

kissed before and her father doesn't

count. I tried to run but she blocked

the door and when I told her to move,

Mr. Ewell shouted through the window

'You goddamn whore ill kill ya.' Then I

ran because he was scared of what

might happen because I am black.

Questioning by Atticus- When Atticus

asked him to a glass with his right

hand, he caught it easily but when Atti-

cus told him to catch it with his le"

hand, he couldn't even li" up his arm.

4 Maycomb Tribune

The unknown man, Boo Radley

Jem and Scout on the way to home

Tom Robinson

Bob Ewell Attacks Finch Kids

Tom Robinson Shot Dead

Bob Ewell had some interesting com-

ments about the death of Tom Robin-

son. He said,"That nigga totally de-

served it. One down, two more to go."

According to Mr. Underwood, killing

Tom Robinson was like killing a mock-

ingbird.

A week ago, Tom was shot dead when

he was trying to escape from the prison

a"er being imprisoned for the rape of

Mayella Ewell. Tom's attempt to escape

was not a good decision. He ran across

the football sized prison yard to climb

the fence in the broad daylight while

several guards were watching him. It

was the only way he thought of escap-

ing. He would have been by an electric

chair if he didn't escape. He was shot

17 times in the back and died due to

blood loss.

What will happen to Ewell family? How

they will survive financially? Who will

step up to help them? When will Jem

heal his arm? These are the unan-

swered questions that need to be an-

swered quickly. We will update you as

soon as we get those answers.

Last evening, Bob Ewell attacked the

Finch kids last night. Jem and Scout

were walking home together from the

school pageant. Scout was wearing her

Ham costume. They heard some

strange noises and when they looked

back, Bob attacked them. He broke

Jem's arm and knocked him out.

Someone came and pushed Bob back

from the kids. Bob took out his knife

and that is when the fight started be-

tween the unknown man and Bob. Bob

was found dead a"er falling on his own

knife as stated by Heck Tate. The un-

known man took the Finch kids home

safely. The unknown man turned out to

be Boo Radley. According to the police,

Bob Ewell fell on his own knife and no

case was registered.

Nobody knows the real reason why

Bob Ewell wanted to harm Finch kids. A

few weeks ago, Atticus was defending

the accused Negro, Tom Robinson. He

had concrete evidence to prove the in-

nocence of Tom. A"er the trial was over

and Tom was found guilty, Bob spat on

Atticus's face. However, Atticus just

took out his handkerchief and wiped

his face. He dealt with the situation

peacefully and Bob didn't like it. He

swore to harm Atticus in every way

possible. Bob could also have been an-

gry with Atticus for his daughter cry in

the courtroom. These are some deduc-

tions that can provide the reason for

the attack on Finch kids, Scout and

Jem.