Opening Statement for Mayella Ewell Good afternoon, my name is Morgan Litke, and it is my pleasure to represent Maycomb County and to serve as a prosecutor on this important case. On November 21st, the defendant in this matter took the easy way out by accusing Tom Robinson of rape. During the trial, Mayella stumbles over her words and forgets what happened. Every day, Tom Robinson walks by the Ewell’s place daily to and from work. Mayella would stop him and ask him to do jobs for him around the yard. Tom said that he felt bad for her because he never saw any other kids helping her or Mr. Ewell, so he was always willing to help. One day Mayella asked him to fix the door hinge on the door inside the house, and Tom nicely said he would. When Tom got inside and looked at the door, he realized nothing was wrong with it, Mayella then tried to kiss Tom. …show more content…
Then Bob Ewell showed up, Tom was scared and ran, not knowing what else to do because it is bad for a black man to be alone with a white woman. Mayella Ewell took the easy way out by choosing to accuse Tom Robinson of something he had not done so that she could cover up what she had done, kissing a black man without his consent. At the end of the case, I hope you use the evidence given and the facts to return to a quilty case on the charge of perjury. Members of the jury, the County will review the evidence against Mayella Ewell, who took the easy way out and lied during court, which ended up costing Tom Robinson’s life. During the trial, “Mr. Gilmer waited for Mayella to collect herself: she had twisted her handkerchief into a sweaty rope; when she opened it to wipe her face it was a mass of creases from her hot hands” (Lee 205). After many of the questions asked, “Mayella was silent”. She seemed to be trying to get something clear to herself” (Lee