Tom Robinson Trial

7/17/1934
Today was the day of Tom Robinson's trial.  Jem, Dill, and me got to sit in the balcony with Reverend Sykes and the rest of the colored folk.  The trial started with Heck Tate, and he gave his story of what happened on that night of the rape.  Atticus began questioning Mr. Tate about what side Mayella was beaten up on.  After that, Mr. Bob Ewell was called up to be questioned.  Mr. Ewell said that he had seen Tom Robinson through the window; he says that when he ran inside, Tom ran out the front door.  He claimed that he didn't chase Tom because he was too busy makin' a fuss over Mayella.  Atticus asked Mr. Ewell if anyone had called for a doctor when all of this happened.  Mr. Ewell said that they hadn't; he also agreed with Mr. Heck Tate's description of Mayella's injuries.  Atticus made him write his name, and it turned out that Mr. Ewell writes with his left hand.  Jem seemed really excited about this, but I couldn't understand what was so exciting.  I think Jem has gone crazy.   Mayella was called for questions after Mr. Ewell.  She said that she invited Tom into the yard to chop up a chiffarobe.  She claimed that when she went inside for Tom's nickle, he came up behind her and choked her and started to beat her.  She thought that Atticus was making fun of her by being polite.  I guess she isn't used to that sort of thing because her seven siblings and her father don't seem like nice people to be around.  The last thing Mayella said is that if the courtroom didn't convict Tom, they were a bunch of cowards.  Then, she stormed off the stand and refused to answer any more questions.  The last person to be questioned was Tom Robinson.  When he swore in, it was obvious to the courtroom that he had no control of his left hand.  I don't know for sure if this was important or not, but it seemed like it was.  Tom said that busting up the chiffarobe wasn't the only favor he had done for Mayella.  He said that she had asked him to do several favors for her in the past.  On that particular night, she hadn't asked him to chop up the chiffarobe; she asked him to fix a door that was off its hinges.  Tom said that when he got inside, Mayella jumped on him and started kissin' and huggin' on him.  Mr. Gilmer started to question Tom.  When Tom innocently made the comment that he helped Mayella because he felt sorry for her, Mr. Gilmer started to talk to him in a mean tone of voice.  Then Dill started to cry and I missed the rest of the questioning. When Dill and me walked back in, Atticus was in the middle of his closing speech.  He talked a lot about innocence and justice.  I hope the jury understood what the heck he was talking about because I sure didn't. After Atticus's speech, Calpurnia came in and told us we had to come home for dinner before we came back and found out the verdict. When we finally finished our dinner and got back to the courthouse, the jury was still out, so we waited...and waited...and waited. After hours, the jury came back into the courtroom. The jury said that Tom was guilty; Atticus left, and the whole balcony stood up in respect for him.