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Daniel Cotty

Mrs. Weaver

LNG 312

29 March 2011

Retrial of Tom Robinson

It is in the Constitution of the United states, “All men are created equal.” That is not the

case for young Tom Robinson. Mayella Ewell sates that Tom came upon her when she was

getting him a nickel. He then threw her to the ground, then beat and raped her. Tom says she

tempted him and he refused to kiss her. Tom Robinson is an innocent man and deserves a new

trial because, the witnesses’ statements were inconsistent throughout the trial, there is no medical

evidence that the crime even occurred, and the prejudiced jury would never take a black man’s

word over a white man or woman’s.

On the witness stand, the witnesses’ testimonies were inconsistent throughout the trial.

They changed their stories many times to cover up Mayella’s own crime of tempting a Negro.

Mayella Ewell stated, “He ran up behind me, threw me down, hit me and hit me and took

advantage of me.”Later in Atticus’s cross-examination she says, “I don’t recall if he hit me or

not.” This proves that Mayella had changed her story. Bob Ewell says he didn’t call a doctor.

Why wouldn’t you call a doctor if your daughter had just been beaten and raped? This proves

there is no real evidence that rape even occurred except for two inconsistent testimonies.

On the night of November 21st, no one stated they called a doctor, proving that there is no

medical evidence that shows the rape ever happened. The physical evidence of Tom Robinson

also shows that he couldn’t have beaten Mayella Ewell because of a crippled left arm. Heck Tate
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and Bob Ewell both say they did not call a doctor. They both had little reason why they did not

call a doctor either. Since no doctor was called, there really is no proof that Mayella Ewell was

even raped. The only evidence is from two testimonies from two unfit witnesses. One witness is

an alcoholic and the other cannot keep her story consistent throughout the trial.

The jury for the defendant’s case was prejudiced and didn’t give him a fair chance in the

trial. They were not going to accept a black man’s word over two white people’s words. There was

no sufficient evidence Tom touched her. Mayella Ewell was beaten on the right side of her face

meaning that the assailant would have to have lead with his left hand and Tom has a crippled left

arm. Mr. Ewell was shown to be left handed. They jury didn’t see that? They were just not going to

believe a word Tom Robinson said. They didn’t believe Tom simply because he is a black man. The

jury failed to believe an honest, hard working man’s word over an alcoholics and someone who

consistently changed her story. Yes, some Negroes are bad, some Negroes are dishonest, some

Negroes commit crimes, but Tom Robinson is not one of those Negroes. The jury convicted an

innocent man because he is black, which is why Tom Robinson deserves a new trial.

Tom Robinson is an innocent man because of inconsistent testimonies from two unfit

witnesses, no medical evidence that shows the rape even occurred, and a prejudiced jury who

didn’t give Tom a fair chance to prove his innocence. Tom Robinson is a good man who was just

helping someone who asked for help. He is wrongly accused to cover up a wrong doing by

Mayella Ewell. She tempted a Negro. You cannot convict a man for the color of his skin. Tom

Robinson’s only crime was kindness.