Jerry Summers
It might have been anticipated that I would write a final comparison between the Bobby Hoppe trial in Chattanooga in 1988 and the Bill Powell Trial in Nashville in 1968 in recent articles on chattanoogan.com. (By one reader).
It is easy to be a “Monday morning quarterback” after the game is over and you can review a video, transcript, or written accounts in books written many years after the actual trials had taken place.
The loss of a loved one as a victim (Haynie Gourley) or going through the ordeal of a trial (Bobby Hoppe) does not go away from those individuals involved in the events.
The hurt, anger, and disappointment from a “Not Guilty” or unanticipated verdict in high profile emotion-filled legal proceedings lingers forever.
Laypersons often get lost in trying to understate the law, trial, and results that may differ from how spectators view each scenario and conclusion (some lawyers do also).
The two cases differ in one major aspect.
The financial consequences in the Powell case was that Haynie Gourley’s decision to hire Bill Powell and give him 25 percent of the ownership to make a gradual transition of the operation to the Gourley family with its continued control by retaining 75 percent of the remaining stock and interest of the Capitol Chevrolet dealership resulted in a different ending than in the Hoppe case. There was no money involved in the decision that led to the killing of the sister’s boyfriend i the Bobby Hoppe case.
The intense interest in the Powell case resulted in overwhelming media coverage to the extent that the two local newspapers, the Nashville Tennessean and the Nashville Banner, published full transcripts of every early day's proceedings that were prepared by a team of court reporters attending the trial in addition to the regular stenographer of the court.
The combative lawyering by both sides continued throughout the trial and, although an outsider might think they were bitter enemies, they remained cordial friends outside the courtroom where they often represented mutual clients over the years.
On page 13 of “The Last Ride", the author acknowledges that “because most of the people I interviewed participated in the prosecution’s case there is a definite bias to the book.”
This is a reference to the 50-year gap between the trial and the conference by the author with son, Bill Gourley, who finally agreed to be interviewed. His words have been supplemented by Hal Hardin, who is now a successful and well known attorney in Nashville.
In the Hoppe case there is also a “bias” by Sherry Hoppe from the standpoint of her belief in her husband’s complete innocence and justification in the killing of his sister’s boyfriend. In that belief she asserts strong criticism of the judge and prosecution team.
In both cases there is much speculation that results from Bill Powell being acquitted in Nashville and the lack of complete acquittal in the Bobby Hoppe hung jury case.
The legal similarities and differences in both cases qualify them to be considered as the most highly publicized cases in their respective counties in Tennessee history.
(Readers of criminal trial cases will be intrigued by the facts, circumstances, and personalities involved in both cases. The “Last Ride” is a great read.)
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You can reach Jerry Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com