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Chattanooga, Tennessee
Ed Johnson was a young African American man who was arrested and put on trial in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1906 for allegedly raping a white woman named Nevada Taylor. His trial began on February 6, 1906, presided over by Judge McReynolds. During the trial, Nevada Taylor identified Johnson as her attacker based on his voice, face, and size, as well as a hat he had worn. However, she repeatedly refused to swear under oath that Johnson was definitely the assailant, only stating it was her belief that he was. Johnson’s defense presented thirteen witnesses who testified that Johnson was at the Last Chance Saloon, where he worked as a porter, around the time of the alleged rape. The defense also challenged the testimony of a key prosecution witness, Will Hixson, suggesting he had falsely accused Johnson to collect a $375 reward. Despite this alibi evidence, the jury convicted Johnson and sentenced him to death on March 13, 1906. After his conviction, two pioneering Black attorneys, Noah Parden and Styles Hutchins, took up Johnson’s case on appeal. They managed to secure a stay of execution from U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan, which was an unusual intervention by the Supreme Court at that time.
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Ed Johnson was a young African American man who was arrested and put on trial in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1906 for allegedly raping a white woman named Nevada Taylor. His trial began on February 6, 1906, presided over by Judge McReynolds. During the trial, Nevada Taylor identified Johnson as her attacker based on his voice, face, and size, as well as a hat he had worn. However, she repeatedly refused to swear under oath that Johnson was definitely the assailant, only stating it was her belief that he was. Johnson’s defense presented thirteen witnesses who testified that Johnson was at the Last Chance Saloon, where he worked as a porter, around the time of the alleged rape. The defense also challenged the testimony of a key prosecution witness, Will Hixson, suggesting he had falsely accused Johnson to collect a $375 reward. Despite this alibi evidence, the jury convicted Johnson and sentenced him to death on March 13, 1906. After his conviction, two pioneering Black attorneys, Noah Parden and Styles Hutchins, took up Johnson’s case on appeal. They managed to secure a stay of execution from U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan, which was an unusual intervention by the Supreme Court at that time.