On Juneteenth

by Annette Gordon-Reed

Writing for the Court in 1941, Justice Hugo Black held that the confession, obtained by severe beatings and keeping White incommunicado, violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. With that, the case went back down for retrial. It was during the final proceeding in Conroe, in June of 1941, that W. S. “Dude” Cochran, Ruby Cochran’s husband, walked to the front of the courtroom and shot White in the back of the head, killing him instantly. He handed the gun to the prosecutor and turned himself over to the sheriff. He was arrested and was out on a bond of $500. His trial, held a few days later, lasted three hours. After the prosecutor’s closing statement, the courtroom erupted in applause and cheers. The jury deliberated for two minutes and returned a verdict of “not guilty,” and Cochran walked out of court a free man after having murdered Bob White in an open courtroom in front of the judge, lawyers, and dozens of spectators.