Newspaper Report on Tom Robinson trial.

Tom Robinson Found Guilty for Rape

Yesterday at around 11pm, Tom Robinson who had been accused by Bob Ewell of raping his daughter, Mayella Ewell, 19, has been charged for rape. The court case took place at the Maycomb County Courthouse and huge crowd of people, both white and blacks, turned up to watch the trial. The prosecutor was Mr Gilmer and the defence laywer was Atticus Finch. The case was presided over by Judge Taylor and a hand-picked jury. The result of the trial ended in favour of the plantiff, the Ewell family.

The crime took place on the evening of November 21st last year, near the town garbage dump. Maycomb Ewells had lived behind the town garbage dump for years which were once a Negro Cabin. Bob Ewell, the father of Mayella Ewell, survived on relief cheques to make ends meet. Mayella Ewell had two or three years of education and was the oldest of all the children in the Ewell family. Her mother had passed away a long time ago and the children were in the care of their father, Bob Ewell

When the Sheriff, Mr Heck Take was called to the stand yesterday to give his statements, he was questioned about the physical injuries of Mayella Ewell. He said that she was beaten around the head and had bruises on her arms. Also, he said that she had a " black eye" on her right side and had" definite finger marks on her gullet" However, a professional such as a doctor was no called to care for her wounds as Mr Heck Take felt it was unnecessary. Mayella wounds and injuries were obvious.

Mr Bob Ewell was called to the court .He said he was in the woods when he heard Mayella screaming so he said that he run as fast as he could through the fence. He saw Tom Robinson have sexual intercourse with his daughter through the window. However, Tom ran away as Bob Ewell was distracted with Mayella to catch after him. Then, he ran for the sheriff, Mr Heck Tate. He told the sheriff who was the culprit and Mr Tate arrested Tom Robinson on Mr Ewell's account of the story.

Atticus had asked him in court to write his name. It was then found out that Bob Ewell is left handed.

According to Mayella Ewell statement, she was certain that Tom Robinson had raped her. On the evening of November 21, Mayella said she was standing on the front porch of her house. She told the audience that" there was this old chiffarobe in the yard Papa'd brought in to chop for kindlin'As she felt she was not strong enough, she sought for help from Tom Robinson who was happening to pass by. She said that it was her first time asking Tom Robinson to come through the fence t help her. Tom Robinson passed the Ewells house every day to go to work in Mr Link Deas' yard. Mayella offered a nickel in exchange for Tom helping her .Then, as she was getting a nickel to pay, when she turned around, Tom was “on her" and he "got her round the neck" She fought and hollered at him tooth and nail but was unable to get him off her. Then her father looked from the window and realised what happened. She then fainted while Tom Robinson was then said to have run away before Mr Ewell could get him. Mr Ewell then called the sheriff, Mr Heck Take.

Mayella was sure that Tom Robinson had taken advantage of her. As a defence to the accusation, Tom Robinson was asked to stand. It was shown to all that Tom Robinson left hand is 12 inches shorter than his right as his left arm was caught in a cotton gin since young. His left arm hung dead and could not be used. The accusation of Tom Robinson raping Mayella Ewell had came into serious question as it was implied by Atticus, the defendant, that it was unlikely for a person maim in his left able to hurt Mayella's right eye. There is the possibility of Bob Ewell hurting his own daughter instead of Tom Robinson as he is left-handed. When Mayella was questioned by the defence lawyer as to whether Tom or her father harmed her, there was no response from her.

The defendant, Tom Robinson, had a very different side of the story. He said he had known Mayella Ewell for a while as he had to pass by the Ewell’s house every day to go to work for Mr Link Deas in his yard. Based on his statements, he said that he had gone into the house to help Mayella do fix or help her out “lots of times". He did work like chopping and kindling for Mayella. She offered him a nickel but he declined. Apparently, Mayella asked him to fix the door hinges as she said it was loose. When Tom was at work, Mayella kissed and hugged him. The children usually in the house went to eat ice-cream bought by Mayella so were not present. This totally contradicts Mayella and her father's side of the story. Next, Mr Bob Ewell had seen this from the window, spouted vulgarities at Mayella, saying he would kill her.

However, after the jury had listened to both sides of the story, Tom Robinson was charged with the crime of raping Mayella Ewell. Tom Robinson is now awaiting the death penalty in the Maycomb jail.