Examples Of Tom Robinson Trial In To Kill A Mockingbird

Tom Robinson, a Free Man
Your honor, members of the jury, my name is Atticus Finch, representing the defendant in this case. I recognize any faces in the crowd, you all know me. I have lived in this town my whole life. I'm sure many of you are familiar with Tom. He has lived, and worked in Maycomb for a long time, and has always been a kind man. Mayella Ewell has accused my client, Tom Robinson, of sexual assault in the first-degree. Miss Ewell says that Tom Robinson snuck up behind her, grabbed her, and proceeded to assault and rape her. I don’t think that is what happened at all. I think that Miss Ewell was bored and lonely, and decided to throw herself onto my client, hoping for some excitement in her life. When her father, Mr. Ewell, saw

Tate and Mr. Ewell testified that Mayella was beat on her right side? “ Oh yes, that’d make it right. It was on her right eye, Mr. Finch. I remember now, she was bunged up on that side of her face…” (Lee 192). I'm sure you all noticed my defendant's arm. His left arm is deformed, completely useless. Now, I want you to think about what would happen if Tom used his right arm to hit Mayella, she would have been beaten on the left side of her face. That didn’t happen, did it, she was beat on her right. That means that the person who assaulted her had to have used their left hand. Do you think that Tom's left arm could have been of any use? Do you know who is, in fact, left handed? That would be Mr. Ewell. “ Your left-handed, Mr. Ewell,” (Lee 201). Now, Mr. Ewell claims that he can use either hand, but that still rules in the fact that he was fully capable of the assault, while Tom could not have committed the crime in the way that it was

Ewell's story and Mayella’s do not match. Mayella claims that her father stood over her and asked who had done it, while Mr. Ewell said that he recognized the man immediately. Mr. Ewell has a reputation for drinking, as we can all agree, which made me even more suspicious that he had done the crime, but the real turning point was something that Miss Ewell said. Under oath, she stated, “He does tollable, ‘cept when-,” (Lee 208). Miss Mayella did not continue her sentence after she noticed her father staring at her, waiting for her answer. You may be wondering, why would Mayella accuse Tom of this crime, and not her father? Well, it’s because despite the fact that she has to do much more work than her siblings, she cares about them. Earlier today, Mr. Robinson explained, “ Yes, suh. I felt sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em.” (Lee 224). Mayella did not want to turn her father in, first because she didn't think that anyone would care, and second because she did not know what would happen to her siblings. She is the oldest, the only one who could read and write. What would happen to