In Chapter 16, Tom Robinson's trial starts with the attendance of almost every one of the Maycomb citizens except Miss Maudie who doesn’t want to see a man’s fate decided in court. Jem explains the history of Mr. Raymond, a man who came to the trial, to Scout. Mr. Raymond has children and is involved with a black women. Their children are mixed races and have a difficult time befriending either race. This causes their whole family to be outcasts in the town.
After the court takes a lunch break, Jem, Scout, and Dill try to sneak into the courtroom without Atticus finding out. When they finally enter the courtroom, there are no empty seats so the reverend offers them a seat in the balcony, where the black children sit. The children can see Judge Taylor, an old white who often runs the court casually, resuming the trial. First, Heck Tate, the Maycomb sheriff, who is questioned by Mr. Gilmer, the prosecutor. Tate recalls that on November 21st, Bob Ewell told him that Tom Robinson had raped his daughter Mayella. After arriving at the Ewell abode, he questioned Mayella to find the perpetrator. Mayella had told him that Tom Robinson had raped and beat her. Then he brought in Tom Robinson to be identified as the raper while he looked for bruises on Mayella's face. He noticed that her all of her injuries were on the right side of her
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She is the oldest of the eight Ewell children, doesn't have a mother, and well kept for an Ewell. According to her account of the incident, she asked Tom Robinson to come inside the fence to help her break up a dresser. Upon entering the house, Tom Robinson allegedly took advantage of her. During Atticus’s cross-examination, he asks why she didn't scream in order to get help from one of her siblings. He follows up asking her how Tom beat her with his useless left hand (damaged in a cotton gin).With no answers, Mayella vries and refuses to speak