12. Ed Johnson and the rape of Nevada Taylor
Nevada Taylor was a white woman in Chattanooga, Tennessee who filed a complaint of rape with local police, though she claimed that she did not have a good description of her assailant, unsure even if he had been black or white. Another witness claimed to have seen Ed Johnson near the scene of the rape, and Taylor subsequently identified him as the rapist. Johnson, who was black, was convicted and sentenced to death. He appealed on the basis of his rights being violated for several reasons, obtained a stay of execution and a hearing by the US Supreme Court.
The stay of execution was enough to incite a riot in Chattanooga, and Johnson was removed from the jail and hanged by a mob from a nearby bridge. Following the lynching, the Supreme Court charged the sheriff and several of his deputies, as well as members of the lynch mob, with contempt of court. The sheriff, Joseph Shipp, was tried before the Supreme Court, the only criminal trial ever heard before that body. Johnson’s conviction for the rape of Nevada Taylor was later overturned by the Hamilton County, Tennessee criminal court.