Four men and their families were destroyed by the accusation of rape in July 1949, but no medical evidence of sexual assault was presented at trial, it was proven that at least one of defendants could not have been involved and at least two alibi witnesses said two other defendants were 50 miles away when the woman said she was being attacked.
Later, the physician who examined the alleged victim said he could not say whether or not a rape took place. Others who were familiar with the events of July 15 and 16 said they knew for certain the woman, Norma Padgett, concocted a story.
So what did happen?
A Mr. and Mrs. Twiss, who lived across from Burtoft’s Cafe, saw Norma getting out of a car around 6 a.m. on July 16. She then walked to the cafe and told Lawrence Burtoft that she had been taken away by four black men the night before. The Twiss told investigators that Norma stepped out of a car driven by a WHITE man. The driver was not her husband Willie. Then who was Norma with?
Mr. and Mrs. Twiss said the car was a Mercury. It must be noted that Curtis Howard drove a Mercury. Howard, who earned a reputation as a womanizer within a few years of the incident, claimed that he helped Willie Padgett search for Norma that morning.
The attorneys who represented the Groveland defendants had grave doubts about Curtis Howard, who changed his story at least once. Did Curtis and Norma spend some time together after Norma left her drunken husband?
Only Norma knows … and she’s not saying. Howard has passed on.
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