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How The Sheriff Tate Led Up To The Trial In To Kill A Mockingbird

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The fairness of a police officer is incredibly telling to the result of a situation. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson, a black man, is put on trial for raping a young girl named Mayella Ewell. Sheriff Tate, the police officer of Maycomb, filed charges against Robinson, which eventually led to Robinson ending up in jail. Sheriff Tate would have filed charges against Tom Robinson just as quickly if he was white because he isn’t biased or prejudiced leading up to the trial and he shows he cares for outcasts in Maycomb by protecting Boo Radley. To start off, Sheriff Tate proves himself to be above prejudice leading up to the trial by not letting racism influence his decisions. Before the trial, Heck Tate shows his concern for …show more content…

“‘...movin’ him to the county jail tomorrow,’ Mr. Tate was saying, ‘I don’t look for any trouble, but I can’t guarantee there won’t be any….’” (Lee 194). Sheriff Tate was worried that something might happen to Tom Robinson before the trial. His concern for Robinson indicates that he wasn’t biased or prejudiced, and he was just doing his duty as a police officer when he turned him in. Sheriff Tate came to Atticus’ home during the first mob, which was there to warn Atticus, to help Atticus out in the best way he could. It can be inferred that Sheriff Tate was on Robinson’s side, despite his testimony during the trial on behalf of Bob Ewell. He would have been there to defend Tom Robinson, but with all the rumors that went around, he didn’t know who to believe and was sent out on a false report. Also, Sheriff Tate did nothing other than abide the law when he turned Tom Robinson in. “So I went down to Robinson’s house and brought him back. She identified him as the one, so I took him in. That’s all there was to it” (Lee 223). Sheriff Tate didn’t mistreat Tom Robinson when he turned him in. His decision to turn Robinson in wasn’t unjustified; he did what the law asked him to do. Because Sheriff Tate didn’t hurt,

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All evidence pointed to Mr. Ewell as the offender, a man who spends all his money on whiskey and lets his children cry from starvation. While, Tom Robinson is a good person, with a good job and a good family but with a bad, bad skin color. And that's the important factor. The judge, jury, both lawyers, practically the entire town knew that Tom was innocent.

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Dear Members of the Jury, I am writing you this letter to tell to you that Tom Robinson should be proven not guilty. This case would have never happened if the truth would have been told and it wasn’t a case between black and white. There are many ways that Robinson is not guilty. One of these reasons that Tom Robinson is not guilty is that if you listened to the Sheriff 's testimony he stumbled frequently and when he said something and then Atticus would say something different he would agree with Atticus. Tom Robinson is a very polite man with great manners, which you could take into consideration that he wouldn’t dare hurt this woman in this kind of manner.

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In relation to this, the farmers who are in the same social status try to kill Tom Robinson before the trial. “You know what we want, another man said, Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch.” “You can turn around and go home again, Walter,” Atticus said pleasantly. “Heck Tate’s around somewhere.” (Lee 153).

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