Clarence Darrow is tried on charges of bribing jurors Los Angeles 1912

In the first of the two bribery trials, Clarence Darrow’s lead counsel, Earl Rogers, gave a closing argument that attacked the prosecution’s key witnesses. Darrow then stood and spoke for eight hours, weaving together the story of the case, of prosecutorial misconduct and of his own career, at one point saying: “I am not on trial for having sought to bribe a man named Lockwood. I am on trial because I have been a lover of the poor, a friend of the oppressed, because I have stood by labor for all these years.” When the trials were over, he returned to Chicago, having been absent for two years. He picked up his law practice and became a frequent speaker on the lecture circuit. His greatest courtroom victories were yet to come. —Read the article by Michael E. Tigar.

Image: Clarence Darrow by Bettman/Corbis. AP Images.