Dr. Ossian Sweet: His House in a 'White Neighborhood' Was Attacked - An Attacker Was Killed And Charges Were Dismissed With The Help Of Attorney Clarence Darrow

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Dr. Ossian Sweet (left) and his legendary attorney, Clarence Darrow.

Dr. Ossian Sweet moved into a house in an all-white area on September 8, 1925. Soon after, Sweet and his friends had to defend his house from a mob of racist whites. Two of the whites were shot and one of them died. Sweet and friends were put on trial for murder and were defended by lawyers from the NAACP and Clarence Darrow.

HOME INVASION
There were dangerous occurrences happening to friends and acquaintances of Ossian in buying homes in white neighborhoods and then being attacked. Also, the idea that an African American could afford what most were struggling to keep was insulting to many of the working class whites that lived in the neighborhood.

Fearing an attack, Ossian had nine other men at his house on the night of the attack to help defend his family and property should any violence arise. As the mob grew restless, people began to throw stones at the house, which eventually broke an upstairs window. There were several of Dr. Sweet’s friends waiting upstairs, armed with weapons that Sweet had purchased prior to moving in. A volley of shots rang out from the upstairs, and in an instant, two attackers were down. One member of the mob, Eric Houghberg, was shot and suffered a minor injury. The other man who was hit, Leon Breiner, was killed from the shot.

TRIAL
The Sweets and their friends were tried for murder. There was little hope of receiving a fair trial at this point, but Ossian Sweet and his friends remained hopeful. When word of this incident reached the desk of James Weldon Johnson, general secretary of the NAACP, Johnson knew right away that this case would be a major force in the acquisition of civil rights for African Americans.

With the help of the NAACP, Sweet and his friends gained the money and support that they needed. Johnson invited Clarence Darrow, who was for a period of time the most brilliant defense attorney in the country, to join the Sweets' defense team. Darrow previously had been an attorney in the Scopes Trial. Publicity was what Johnson was looking for from Darrow.

The jury deadlocked and Judge Murphy dismissed the deadlocked jury and declared the court case a mistrial. Dr. Sweet and Gladys had expectations to head back to court within a few weeks, but there were delays.

During the long delay between the first and second trial, Darrow did not devote much time to the Sweets' case. Eventually, almost three weeks after it was planned, the trial began on Monday, April 19, 1926. This shorter trial led to an acquittal of Henry Sweet. The prosecuting attorney then elected to dismiss the charges against the remaining defendants.

SOURCE: Wikipedia - Find out more.