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Boys arrested
Scottsboro boys are arrested on charges of assault. Rape charges are added against all nine boys after accusations are made by Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. -
Boys almost die
Scottsboro boys are nearly lynched by crowd of over 100 gathered around Scottsboro's jail. -
Trialed for rape
Grand jury indicts the nine Scottsboro boys for rape. -
Sentenced to death
Clarence Norris, Charlie Weems, Haywood Patterson, Olen Montgomery, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Eugene Williams, and Andy Wright are tried and convicted, and sentenced to death. The trial of Roy Wright ends in a mistrial when some jurors hold out for a death sentence even though the prosecution asked for life imprisonment. -
Bates says she wasnt raped
Ruby Bates, in a letter to a Earl Streetman, denies that she was raped. -
Supream court looks at case
The U. S. Supreme Court announces that it will review the Scottsboro cases. -
Verdicct overturned
The Supreme Court, by a vote of 7-2, reverses the convictions of the Scottsboro boys in Powell vs. Alabama. Grounds for reversal are that Alabama failed to provide adequate assistance of counsel as required by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. -
rape denied
Ruby Bates appears as a surprise witness for the defense, denying that any rape occurred and testifying that she was with Victoria Price for the whole train ride. -
new trial
Judge Horton sets aside Patterson's conviction and grants a new trial. -
supream cout denies
The Alabama Supreme Court unanimously denies the defense motion for new trials. Leibowitz had argued that qualified blacks were systematically kept off jury rolls, and the names that were currently in the rolls had been forged after the fact. -
samuel first apperance
Samuel Leibowitz makes his first appearance before the Supreme Court of the United States -
Petterson Found guilty
Patterson is found guilty and sentenced to 75 years in prison -
knife and gun
While being transported back to Birmingham Jail, Ozie Powell pulls a knife and slashes Deputy Edgar Blalock's throat. Sheriff Jay Sandlin stops the car and shoots Powell in the head. Both Blalock and Powell survive. -
knight dies
Thomas Knight dies. -
last four dropped
Rape charges against the last four defendants, Olen Montgomery, Willie Roberson, Eugene Williams, and Roy Wright, are dropped.
