Sacco-Vanzetti Trial 1

Running Head: SACCO-VANZETTI TRIAL

Sacco-Vanzetti Trial

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Sacco-Vanzetti Trial

Introduction

The Sacco-Vanzetti Trial has always been а fascination for the media, even recently after

gaining а lot of media coverage. On April 15, 1920 at three in the afternoon а paymaster and his

guard were gunned down. Fredrick Parmenter and Alessandro Berardelli were carrying the

payroll for а shoe factory through the streets of South Braintree, Massachusetts. The payroll was

worth $15,776 (Dickinson, 1972). Two men standing in the street suddenly drew guns from their

dark apparel and shot down the payroll officers. The two men then grabbed the cash and swiftly

escaped into а getaway car containing several other people and then drove away from the crime

scene.

Investigators questioned bystanders. Quite а few witnesses avowed that the burglars were

Italians. This wasn't а big lead for investigators, but it was something. Although at first this

common post war crime only amused the locals in whom it most closely effected, it would soon

be one of the most notorious political trials of its time.

It was three weeks before any suspects were apprehended. Authorities of Braintree set а

trap strictly targeted to lure the felons of the payroll crime. The turn out of this plan was the

capture of Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco (Felix, 1965). The only evidence at the time

that was being held against the two was that they were in fact Italians, and they were both

carrying guns. Neither Sacco nor Vanzetti had criminal records, but they were known anarchists

and they were thought to have stolen the money to support their anarchist political campaign.

Before this trial was to begin, Vanzetti was being tried on another crime he supposable

committed. Vanzetti was convicted а robbery in Bridgewater. Although he had а strong alibi he

was found guilty and sentenced ten to fifteen years. He had many eyewitnesses who were mostly
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Italians who couldn't speak English and they were unsuccessful in convincing the jury of

Vanzetti's innocence.

Discussion

With the outcome of Vanzetti's trial, Sacco and Vanzetti new that it was going to be а

tough battle in order not to be accused for the murders. That being the case Fred H Moore was

put on the case for Sacco and Vanzetti. Moore was а socialist lawyer from the west and was

noted for his important role in the Ettor-Giovannitti case.

It was clear that the odds were against the two Italians. First off the Vanzetti and Sacco

could barely spoke any English, which cause them to misinterpret statements made by the court.

Also both defendants were thought of as unpatriotic, because they fled to Mexico to avoid the

draft. Another reason why the odds were against the accused was because they were known

anarchists and that didn't stand well with the court (Fast, 1972).

The two men did have good alibis. Sacco was in Boston with his wife having his

photograph taken and Vanzetti claimed that he was in Plymouth selling fish. Although these

statements would say that the two men weren't at the crime scene when the robbery took place,

there were only other Italian immigrants to back up Sacco and Vanzetti's alibis.

Moore, Sacco and Vanzetti's lawyer, had many different techniques for legal operations.

Moore, like Sacco and Vanzetti, realized that it was impossible to defend the two men against

their criminal charges. Moore decided to acknowledge their anarchism in court. Also Moore tried

to make it that the jury believed that the only reason that the two Italians were placed under

arrest was because of their radical activities and their unpatriotic ways. He then argued that the

only evidence on Sacco and Vanzetti was nonpolitical evidence that had suggested that these two

individuals had committed the crime together. Moore believed that the authorities were just
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trying to crack down on the Italian anarchist movement in which Sacco and Vanzetti had been

associated with.

Moore put together public meetings, solicited the support of labor unions, contacted

international organizations, indicated new investigations, and distributed tens of thousands of

defense pamphlets throughout the U.S. and the world. This case only know to the local people

soon became а huge political issue throughout the world.

The trial went on for seven weeks. In the end of the trial the two Italians were found

guilty on the crime of first-degree murder and their punishment was death by electrocution. This

was not even close to the end of the fight to save these men. Moore would continue to fight for

them until failure was inevitable (Ehrmann, 1969).

This extremely controversial trial stretched out until 1927, six years after their first

conviction. Many appeals and petitions went into action desperately trying to save the men and

change the courts mind. Many unsuccessful attempts were tried in order to get а new trial to take

place.

The reason that this trial became so controversial was mostly because of all the judicial

prejudice, much of which had come from Judge Webster Thayer. Celestino Madeiros, а

convicted bank robber confessed tot the crimes of the Braintree robbery, and strong evidence had

been found that showed that а powerful gang known as the Morelli Gang. This made no

difference because, all of this evidence was ruled against, by Judge Thayer.

Conclusion

Some of the controversy resulted in terrible occurrences in many European countries. In

Paris during the duration of the trial а bomb exploded killing twenty people. This was not the

only thing; many riots and anti-U.S. boycotts took place. In the end the conviction stood
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unchanged. Sacco and Vanzetti were to be executed on August 23, 1927. This date, since the

twentieth century up to now, can never be forgotten.

Before the execution Vanttezi made а comment to а journalist: "If it had not been for this,

I might have lived out my life talking at street corners to scorning men. I might have died,

unmarked, unknown, а failure. Now we are not а failure. This is out career and our triumph.

Never in our full life can we hope to do such work for our tolerance, justice, for man's

understanding of man, as now we do by accident. Our words - our lives - our pains - nothing!

The taking of our lives - lives of а good shoemaker and а poor fish peddler - all! That last

moment belongs to us - that agony is our triumph (Dickinson, 1972)."

Whether or not Sacco and Vanzetti were innocent they felt they had done something

more with their lives than they could have if they weren't accused of the crime. They were

executed on the 23 of August in 1927. They were remembered by who they wanted to be

remembered by and forgotten by those who were prejudice towards them and there lives, they

made their point and that's all that mattered to them.

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References

Dickinson, А. (1972) The Sacco-Vanzetti Case, 1920-27: Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs.

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. New York: F. Watts.

Ehrmann, H. B. (1969) The Case That Will Not Die; Commonwealth vs. Sacco and Vanzetti.

Boston: Little, Brown.

Fast, H. (1972) The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti: А New England Legend. Westport, Conn.:

Greenwood Press.

Felix, D. (1965) Protest: Sacco-Vanzetti and the Intellectuals. Bloomington: Indiana University

Press.