John Thomas Scopes. Portrait of John Thomas Scopes (1900-1970), American schoolteacher. In 1925, Scopes was prosecuted for violating the Butler Act, a law forbidding the teaching of evolution theory. The trial was dubbed 'the monkey trial' due to the public's conception that evolution meant humans descended from monkeys. The trial took place in Dayton, Tennessee, USA. The legendary criminal lawyer Clarence Darrow defended Scopes whilst W.J. Bryan, the former United States secretary of state prosecuted. Scopes was found guilty and fined $100. The verdict was struck out on appeal due to a technicality.