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In closing there was no escaping the political confrontation that divided Americans nationwide. The bankers, warned Clarence Darrow, would rejoice at a guilty verdict. Bankers hated Haywood because "he fights for the poor and
against the accursed system upon which the favored live and grow rich and fat."
In closing Borah feared that the verdict might become a referendum on unionism and the power of the working class.
At 8 a.m. on July 30, 1907, as a nervous jury foreman handed the verdict envelop up to an expressionless judge, Darrow steadied Haywood. "Bill, old man, you better prepare for the worst. I'm afraid it is against us, so keep up your nerve."
"Yes I will," Haywood responded.
The judge open the envelop and glanced at a white slip of paper. "State of Idaho against William D. Haywood," read the clerk to the silent courtroom. "We the jury find the defendant, William D. Haywood, not guilty."
The courtroom exploded. Darrow leapt to his feet. Borah sat speechless and stunned.
"Yes, yes, yes, the jury has acquitted me," said Haywood, shouting to his daughter through the sheriff's phone. "Tell Mama I'm coming home."
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