Buchanan v. City of Jackson TN Brief on Appeal of Defendant Appellee City of Jackson

Public Court Documents
December 21, 1981

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Buchanan v. City of Jackson TN Brief on Appeal of Defendant Appellee City of Jackson preview

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- ee431407-b79a-ee11-be36-6045bdeb8873

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Case Files, Bozeman & Wilder Working Files. Affidavit of Lou Sommerville, 1982. 60fcc4b6-ee92-ee11-be37-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/6417ad45-246b-42b7-8426-600a70383d42/affidavit-of-lou-sommerville. Accessed August 19, 2025.

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AFFIDAVIT

y name j-s Lou Sommerville. I am 96 years old this March 1I.
' Maggie Bozeman has never been in my house yet.

My granddaughter Ernestine Brooks and Julia Wilder have
done aLl my writing.

They never told me who to vote for. I voted for Miller, a
gieat big black man. I voted for Louis Coleman for the town" to be wet. And those were the only two I voted for.

On the day of Maggie's trlal, the High :sheriff told me to
go up there and say that Maggie wrote these ballots. Before
Maggle's trlal, Louis Coleman told me if I didn't te}I it,
something would happen to my food stamps. They then cut me
down to one $10.00 food stamp a month.

The High Sheriff tJfA me this in the.Courthouse in Carrolton
ln the hallway. He said: We want to stop her off of this job
from voting. If you do not teII about Maggie comlng to your

, house and fixing your ballot up, then you wonrt get any more
food stamps. "

f told him Maggie ainrt never been to my house just like he
ain't never been there. I asked hlm, "Have you ever did my
writing?" He said no. I said, "WeII Maggie is just like you.t' '

After they left me of.f the stand, I was slttlng on the
Bench in the Courthouse. I overheard'sophle Spann telling
Louis Coleman, the Sheriff: "I told what you said for me to
say. Didn't I get it right? Now give me a little something
for a drink," He said, "I ain't got no money. Yeah, You fixed
.it.'r Then he walked off .

I took this conversation to mean that Sophie lied on the
witness stand because the Sheriff told her what to say. A few
months later when I heard Sophie had died, I thought, "WeI1
God took her off the map because she know she was lying."

Dated: October

Signed by Lou Somerville

Witnessed By:

Sworn to before me this day o

Octqber r 1982,

t?
'r iL..

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Buchanan v. City of Jackson TN Brief on Appeal of Defendant Appellee City of Jackson

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