American Experience; The Murder of Emmett Till; Interview with Gerald Chatham

theory reduce their region to vote yes i can see like a job if you totaled about the animosity that they are to your father faced you prosecuted well anna muslim world was mary received letters inauguration call hate mail you know because of you know his decision to prosecute and there she prosecuted and it was certainly a must to him i'll think in this area most i think of the animosity from king from outside this area one thing if you can kind of say my grandfather my dating

disabuse us doesn't have complete sense cause a question will be in their home for you to talk a little bit about you know i saw another quick on the mail that the pitcher fingers well the father received mail mostly were directed to do a father and now no it would be for people that were extremist if you will you know some would just be very critical of prosecuting white people killing black board and of course mark followed the coliseum and no different really he did win the job calls for not going and they're proud of that the vehicle drives most popular do you

know why he chose the press well yeah i guess when you know we talk about it but then monday i just didn't think that i mean he didn't he had a keen sense of justice i mean i don't think it was ever a question his myrna will not prosecute and that was just a foregone conclusion that he understood and nobody understood practice case can prosecute that he was going to be an enormous pressure not crushed and no you are so willing to some responsibilities of that office in and carry through will draw it and kept going to be judged it and when putting my first arrested was that was their hope that they're dumb that fit justice who's really been a big mistake you know eleven years old

i really don't have any memory of it crowley things at that unsolicited in the other day isn't competent and complimenting your father was that they were to admit women as su about frequently going to the trial because it's a nation and they were talking about the kind of very old native of the nation on the fence but they said that that your father went after the memory was that i think that with the gases is a white guy said that he never heard one white man talk about another and you cannot really fight with these guys now follows english major in college and have a great command of the english language and i never heard him argue a case but i have heard from all the lawyers and judges he was at a graveyard

fan could spell by an injury with houston with his closing arguments in i have no doubt that he gave a great performance of this trial you mentioned to me the other day i am liberty even though it had some rumors your father's talking to you and one woman then i would know lots of times we would sit on the front porch and he had some rocking chairs on the front porch you who's thinking students if you will and we wrote together as almost a tudor times we get to the farm in the car again and i can remember him talking with me about this case and given me some of the facts of the case and you know what i felt and how he should do things that have the case of course that you know the eleven year old boy and i don't reject it was saying that i not told him and i felt like the young prosecuting

you know which he did in the year where we discussed in motion those types of jobs can't hardly dares a little bit in general radio about the importance of jury selection in a criminal probe will course has changed dramatically since nineteen fifties that that in the nineteen fifties family and all white all male george and um um you know you took a case in those days suspected to jury selection was very important but everybody knew everybody and it was easy to find out information about people injury and what their jobs were my head they serve on juries before and you could count on categorize they're they're thinking where's today it's more difficult it's a little chill a wide spectrum of people may have been a lot of injuries that

people say didn't you know we don't know and violent end back in those days uncertainty a prosecution team and knew every one of those george you know and this tainted to coach for those selected before or for him and as an offense the prosecution team reports pretty small d i mean in terms of the different types of people that that they can that they can choose from for sure i'm sure will merge or to her brother some connection with farming is a farming community and still years and that was the plantation life was the chief economy in general so that the jury selection in that case so saul

and someone mentioned that you know that was the jury was selected pretty much on that for the natural low well that trials probably i would only speculate that a unique type of trial where racial lines are drawn again you have a white owned black situation if you will the oj simpson's a great example and i know in la schools is used as a great example manager selection and now where you have a racial lines drawn line that jury selection is very important to me to get the right racial makeup on the jury is calmly very difficult it's impossible for one certain to win and so yeah it's it's it's truly unimportant in polarization of certain this case was later

in we as lawyers don't necessarily agree with it i don't think that that's a fair trial i don't think that's just as well that my father being good we don't live in perfect world either we have a great system of justice best in the world does the war was ever saying and where one is entitled to a trial by their peers managers selected from the huge so you get a fair trial some test that you don't do a perfect job town when they hear that because of it was that that the research or striker testified for the defense is that i knew what i think happens when the same sheriff insurance so unfortunate

officers testified for the defense in a case and yet remember that didn't have testified when the defense called him as a witness the necessarily mean they gave testimony that was then there were siding with the defense minister of worship what is that that they are they had testimony that they had knowledge of defense wanted inhabitants and i don't think that's a it's a bit unusual but it happens soon happen numerous tense you know i think that your father i see them they get search warrants for starters jails looking forward with bats and the defense of the prosecutor's resignation i would have imagined that these witnesses may face a trusted strive they

say that their calm every every lawyer and it can fall in to do some farmers and all wanted to court in this case why maybe assassin on alert ways that's more of the area grew up in the south you know that you you were down there you know those counties you know because it seemed like at some point there was this sense of your brain these guys to justice but at some point there was this was more like let's pull that you know it was them against us or something happens wonder why all the lawyers in the volunteer to be on the other side are they'll volunteer the pure speculation popular thing to do was

the politically right thing to do at that time in the us from reading the papers a narrowing it was at a it was the it was the north versus television network this something more recent in closing arguments that won the defense person to do people from chicago trump <unk> that in greenwich care of them i would be speculating with us that was the reason why the

defense's case was that they do they know body and identified by that and that was a couple about that dale coger so more prosecution that are essential to be able to prove that their caucus to let our produce the body or whatever so i remember those marines into his mother was to live there without him really but he had a ring of sino course all that's up for the waiting worth of the jury to take into consideration so much mr in terms of the approved week defense and those terms with the scientific methods that we have today you know

yeah we are worried do you think that maybe the you know the pressure of the trial the family and began to embrace instances consistent predictor effect a father and you me and the pressure that traffic to him greatly he think it'll be dead with the data with the show only the most thirteen months later their supporters and there's no doubt a moment the trial had a negative impact on his health he brooded for a long time after that i don't think he brooded because over whether or not he had done because he knew he didn't let the only

hebrew word losing and it was winter and little is unfortunate precedent issue it was the one mentioned religious yes for a new nation is you do every day you know crimea awful but oh i want to ask about you know kidney the kidnapping charges and again you know that is an uneasy when you remember back then but it does seem in terms of our story it seems that ok will you know they got off but there's still another chance you know this is another chance to get these guys on kidnapping i walked in the house with a gun or six people there see you take this boy out this doesn't seem like the kidnapping might be a good bet for some

kind of connection you know i'll be speculating about a kidnapping charge i don't i don't know that much about the prison minimum of tone and weaknesses of song woman has to take the board of a whale and that would certainly have been a i guess a george who they considered while they would never put that they were indicted for that george weigel know annoyed the nhs england's is in the next county because okay you get on the floor can be i think where they try to pursue the kidnapping charges yeah la follow suit when i presented those for another prosecutor in another district who have presented those charges the grangers used to not that we're presuming

visited two year old if they try to tune in on monday and the father monday it is a calling my father's band