But the central issue was prejudice, which Darrow had fought all his life. Disagreeing with Moll's statement that this was a murder case, not a question of race, Darrow countered, "I insist that there is nothing but prejudice in this case; that if it was reversed and eleven white men had shot and killed a black while protecting their home and their lives against a mob of blacks, nobody would have dreamed of having them indicted. . . . Now, that is the case, gentlemen, and that is all there is to this case. Take the hatred away, and you have nothing left."

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Finally, the emotionally drained Darrow tied up his summation. "I ask you, on behalf of this defendant, on behalf of these helpless ones who turn to you . . . . I ask you, in the name of progress and of the human race, to return a verdict of Not Guilty in this case!" Darrow apologized for the length of his remarks, and admitted "this case is close to my heart."

Reaction in the courtroom almost equaled the speech in passion. Fighting tears, Murphy grasped a friend's hand after the summation and claimed "This is the greatest experience of my life. That was Clarence Darrow at his best. I will never hear anything like it again. He is the most Christlike man I have ever known." The NAACP so esteemed the summation that it reprinted the entire text for distribution. Even Darrow, who had delivered some of the finest courtroom speeches ever heard, called this "one of the strongest and most satisfactory arguments that I ever delivered."

As the jury left the room to begin its deliberations, Darrow studied one juror who had shown little emotion one way or the other. "That is the most stubborn man I have ever run up against. I didn't make any impression on him. His mind is made up, and I don't think anything could have changed him. I wonder if he is for or against us."

He quickly found out. Less than four hours later the jury returned with its verdict. Darrow tilted forward in his chair and stared at the floor while waiting for the decision. When he heard "Not Guilty," he slumped so low that Toms feared he had fainted. Darrow quietly told his opponent, "Oh, I'm all right. I've heard that verdict before." Darrow learned later that the juror who worried him had walked into the jury room, lit a cigar, opened a book, and told the rest not to bother him until they were ready to acquit Henry Sweet.

Tears streamed down the faces of Darrow and Henry Sweet. Toms appeared surprised with the verdict, while Mrs. Breiner angrily responded, "My husband was murdered and the murderers go free." The NAACP hailed this decision as "one of the most important steps ever taken in the struggle for justice to the Negro in the United States." Judge Murphy ended the trial by telling Henry Sweet, "I believe it is a just and reasonable verdict, and may God bless you."

In July 1927, Murphy dismissed all charges against the other defendants. Though justice had triumphed in this case, tragedy haunted Ossian Sweet through his remaining days. For a number of years he lived in the home for which he had fought, but it harbored nothing but misery. His daughter and wife died of tuberculosis within two years of the landmark trial, and his brother Henry succumbed to the same disease in 1940. Ossian remarried twice and ran several times for public office, without success. On March 19, 1960, broken in health and spirit, Ossian Sweet took his own life.

John F. Wukovits is the author of Devotion to Duty: A Biography of Admiral Clifton Sprague.

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