Devil in the Grove Notes Page 220 PDF

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Devil in the Grove Notes Page 220-291 Pg. 220 Chapter 15: You Have Pissed in My Whiskey 

Shepard v. Florida (1951)- per curiam decision to overturn Shepard and Walter Irvin’s conviction.

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Robert Carter’s argument in regard to Lake County’s Grand jury selection process was the grounds for the reversal

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Justice Robert Jackson concurring opinion scorched the roles of Judge Truman Futch, State Attorney Jesse Hunter, Sheriff Willis McCall and Mabel Norris Reese on how the convictions did not meet the conception of due process.

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Justice Jackson pointed out the prejudice in the jury that led to the conviction.

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Justice Jackson on the Groveland Boys case: “The case presents on of the best examples of one of the worst menaces to American justice. It is on that ground that I would reverse.”

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Truman Futch made no comment on the decision. Florida supreme court justice was not surprised at the decision.

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Richard W. Ervin(Florida attorney general) was disappointed in the outcome

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Jesse Hunter was responsible for the disingenuous selection of the jury that caused the convictions to be overturned

Pg. 221 

McCall was furious at the Supreme Court decision and the bad press. His statement attacks the NAACP, CIO Newspaper guild, and black reporters at the New York Post

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Twenty months before, McCall stopped the lynching of the Groveland Boys, but made a pact with them that if the legal system did not pan out, “they would restore their white man’s justice to Lake County”

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Alex Akerman contacted McCall after the Groveland Boys trial, McCall told him not to return to Lake County because of his defense of the Groveland Boys

Pg. 222     

Two days after the decision, Walter White congratulated Franklin Williams in San Francisco for the victory in the Supreme Court. Gen. Douglas MacArthur was fired by Truman on the same day. Thurgood Marshall was pleased with Gen. Matthew Ridgway on his policy of desegregation in the armed forces. Marshall would now work to prepare for the second trial of the Groveland Boys. Jack Greenberg volunteered for the defense team. New Trial to begin on August 15th Alex Akerman had moved to Virginia but would be there for the trial. Marshal still needed an attorney to work the case. Paul Perkins: 32 years old, black lawyer from Orlando, attended Howard University Law School, served in the Army. Selected to work the case by Marshall.

Pg. 223      

Perkins, unlike Franklin William’s, did not have a problem driving into Lake County and knocking on doors for the investigation. In Groveland, he had to take a friends young son with him because of a “code of ethics” that prevented the KKK from accosting a black man in the company of his children. Pt. 2 of the Groveland Boys case began July 6th. Jesse Hunter reindicted Samuel Shepherd and Walter Irvin. Hunter assured reporters that the state’s case was airtight and that the NAACP was “causing trouble”. Assured that the jury will have “plenty of Negroes” on it. NAACP: Groveland Boys trial promised a national stage as large as the Scottsboro boys trial 20 years prior NAACP presumed the innocence and took the case immediately without the need for the Civil Rights Congress or any other defense group. Marshall needed an attorney with estimable credentials and success but also extensive public relations experience.

Pg. 224    

Marshall was unflinching in the courtroom, fully committed to protecting the rights of those like Irvin and Shepard By summer of 1951, Marshall decided he would represent the Groveland defendants himself. Frank Williams briefed Marshal and Greenberg on the Groveland Case and believes that it did not happen. Willie Padgett took Norma Padgett to a square dance after they had separated. They danced until 1AM.

Pg. 225      

Drunk Willie Padgett tries to initiate sex with Norma in the car and may have been a little rough with her. She “gets hysterical”, jumps out of the car and runs away. Willie was afraid that she was going to tell her white family that Willie tried to rape her. It was not uncommon for the KKK to act as an enforcer of “community morality” in Lake County Williams believes that the rape story was made by Willie, because when witnesses saw their reunion in the morning neither had their stories straight. Marshall and Greenburg had to find the witness, Lawrence Burtoft, for their defense Paul Perkins tracked down some witnesses that confirm the whereabouts of Shepard and Irvin

Pg. 226   

Greensburg and Perkins visited the parent’s home of the defendants. Walter Irvin’s room had a lock on it so Greensburg assumed that the confiscation of Walter’s boots and pants as an unlawful search and seizure. A pollster named Louis Harris was hired by the NAACP to conduct a survey on the population for the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Williams College For the Groveland case, their goal was to find a mistake and use it to reverse the conviction on appeal. This was to get a second trial so they could prove reasonable doubt or Norma may have a change of heart.

Pg. 227   

L.B. DE Forest went to local churches to discuss the abolition of capital punishment She spent time with Judge F.R. Brandon of Groveland and his opposition to the electric chair. She was confronted by McCall on the issue of capital punishment, to which he said “’an eye for an eye’ is the justice I believe in.” Others had a firm stance against it as well

Pg. 228-229 

The Padgetts were not held in high regard in their community according to witnesses interviewed by L.B. De Forest. In an interview with a woman named Betty Lou, she was able to confirm that the Groveland boys were offered liquor to repay them after they stopped to help Norma and Willie. After many interviews, she came face-to-face with Norma Padgett on August 2nd. Norma had a baby in her arms that was a white child a year after the alleged rape. After handing out her book for everyone to sign at the church service she attended with Norma, she found that none of the Padgetts are in favor of capital punishment. She hoped that if they committed the rape, they would at least try to “save them from the chair”

Pg. 230-231  

Thurgood was in New York on Nov. 6th a day before the preliminary motions. The defense team was trying to move the trial to a different venue in order to have a fairer trial, and the disqualification of Jesse Hunter as Prosecutor on several accounts, including failure to notify defense counsel of witness Lawrence Burtoft. Sheperd and Irvin were expecting to leave the maximum security prison in Raiford. They were picked up by Sheriff McCall and were threatened but they were accustomed to it. After having tire problems with the car, McCall ordered them out of the car and ordered them to fix the tire. He then drew his gun.

Pg. 232-239 

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Marshall gets a call from Akerman saying that Samuel Shepard and Walter Irvin were both shot by Sheriff McCall. Shepard was dead, Irvin was critically wounded and in the hospital. Marshall, Perkins, and Akerman went to speak to Irvin at the hospital. Deputy Yates tried to prevent them from speaking with him, and said that they needed approval from Judge Futch first. Sheriff McCall was also in the hospital with “shock and a heart condition.” The lawyers knew that McCall and Yates were hoping that Irvin would die of his wounds before being able to speak to them. FBI agents Wayne Swinney and Clyde Aderhold came to interview Irvin for 45 minutes while the lawyers had to wait for permission from Judge Futch. McCall was in his hospital room with Assistant State Attorney A.P. “Sam” Buie who worked with Jesse Hunter on the prosecution as well as Judge W. Troy Hall to work on a statement to give to the FBI agents. McCall claims that Shepard stepped out of the car after requesting a restroom stop, then hit him with a flashlight and tried to reach for his gun. McCall then reached for his gun and began firing, then radioed Yates. After the shooting, a crowd of people appeared, including Jesse Hunter, who did not completely believe the Sheriffs story, and was there to observe that Irvin was still alive. While a “Jim Crowe car” (ambulance for blacks) was on its way, Hunter approached McCall and said to him “You have pissed in my whiskey.” After Yates continued to block the family and the lawyers of Irvin, one was allowed to enter the room. Jesse Hunter, who believed that Irvin and Shepard did not attack the McCall

Pg. 240 Ch. 16 It’s a Funny Thing 

Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Vishinsky criticized the United States after the shooting. He said, “I think some people should look after their own business before sticking their noses into other people’s business.”

Pg. 241-245 

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November 7th, 1951: Coverage of the Groveland Boys case explodes after the shooting. When Marshall, Akerman, Perkins and Greenberg entered Orlando, they were bombarded with reporters seeking comment from “Mr. Civil Rights.” At the same time, special investigator Jefferson Elliott arrived at the hospital to check all angles. McCall tried to get Judge Futch to appoint an elisor to investigate the death of Shepard but the Govenor of Florida would not recognize that position. The Lawyers were finally allowed to see Irvin in the hospital. Irvin’s story mirrored that of the sheriffs up until Yates pulled out of sight. He said the sheriff went to check the tire but did not radio Yates as McCall had stated. He said that as soon as Shepard and himself stepped out, the sheriff shot Shepard then Irvin. The bullet knocked Irvin into the car, then the Sheriff pulled him out and threw them both on the ground. He says that McCall radioed Yates saying “I got rid of them, killed the sons of bitches”. He also claimed that while playing dead, he was discovered by Yates and the Sheriff and so Yates, after a misfire, shot him again in the neck. Akerman followed up with several more questions, including whether or not he tried to escape or if he attacked the sheriff before the nurses cut him off. Yates was tracked down to his home in Mount Dora by a reporter for comment; he only said “It’s a funny thing, no comment at this time.” Jesse Hunter declared it as the worst thing to ever happen to Lake County The FBI agents noted that Irvin agreed to the lie detector test, while Yates and McCall did not.

Page 246-257 

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The defense team worked to get the venue of the trial moved after the shooting of Walter Irvin and Marshall worked to get Yates and McCall under contempt of court. Marshall got in contact with his old friend H. T. Moore (executive secretary in Florida), who had been urging the governor of Florida to investigate the Groveland case for years. Jesse Hunter recommends that McCull be suspended

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FBI agent is undercover with clansmen who initially wanted to kill Alex Akerman with the Sheriffs permission but he rejected it, so they decided to “scare” him. However, Akerman was not in town. The coroner’s report begins with Judge H. Troy Hall, accompanied by Elliot, McCall, Yates, and others. Hall constructed a case of self-defense for McCall, arguing that the Sheriff had moved them from one place to another before without this happening. Elliot found that the forensic evidence supported the self-defense claim. The jury did not find McCall guilty of wrongdoing. Jesse Hunter was uneasy about the decision. The FBI found the missing round fired from Yates’ firearm that entered Walter Irvin’s neck Governor Warren does not suspend McCall or do anything further on the issue. Marshall berates the governor until he replaces both McCall and Elliot.

Pg. 258-272 Ch. 17 No man alive or to be born 

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Special investigator Eliot was revealed to be a member of the KKK by Stetson Kennedy (who has gone undercover to discover crimes made by the clan.) With Eliot being a klansmen, and the governor appointing him being a klansmen, it may point to a conspiracy to cover up the murder by McCall. Kennedy calls Marshall to get a plane ticket to New York in exchange for the information. Kennedy worked to reopen a grand jury to indict Yates and McCall with the FBI. However, Kennedy had resistance from the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover because of his communist views. Hoover used this resentment to create solidarity between himself and the FBI. Hoover and Marshall worked cooperatively. After the FBI interrogated Elliot and Governor Warren, Elliot admitted to being in the KKK. McCall was assigned to transport Irvin from the courthouse to the prison, this was corrected. McCall tried to get inmates in his prison to say that they heard Shepard talking about escaping. Racial violence began to increase about this time; a man in Winter Garden was flogged then shot to death. Despite Hunter’s feelings toward McCall, he was still determined and relentless in his prosecution of Walter Irvin. Marshall moved to disqualify Hunter by his actions regarding Lawrence Burtoft. Judge Futch moved the trial to the next county to the north, where he would still preside over the court, then he barred Marshall and Greenberg from representing Irvin because they “stirred up trouble in the community” Moore worked with Marshall to raise money and support for the NAACP, where Marshall spoke at several churches about the case

Pg. 273-282 Ch. 18 All Over the Place, Like Rats   

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On Christmas Night, 1951, a bomb exploded in the Moore’s home. It was Harry T. Moore’s and Harriet’s 25th wedding anniversary. Harry T. Moore died at the hospital. He was the first civil rights leader to be assassinated in the United States. Harriet was critically injured and passed away after New Years The FBI agents arrived as well as others to investigate, and mourners began to congregate. Special Agent Robert Nischwitz was certain that the KKK was responsible and “were all over the place, like rats” Facing political repercussions in Florida, Warren offered a $6000 reward for the information leading to the arrest of the bombers. He appointed J.J. Elliot to investigate. Elliot declared he would attend the funeral and provide escort for the family. For the funeral service, Elliot and others searched under the church for any more explosives and found none. Very little progress was made in the bombing investigation. McCall gave a speech at a Klan meeting telling them not to talk to the FBI

Pg. 283-291 Ch. 19 pt.1 Private Parts    

Marshall was given FBI escort. Agent Swinney provided the escort Klansmen in Orlando formed the “American Confederate Army” that would march on Washington if its demands were not met. The retrial began and the defense team petitioned Judge Futch to allow Marshall and Greenberg to represent Irvin. The Judged allowed it but denied the disqualification of Jesse Hunter The defense tried to move the trial to a different venue again to gain a more fair trial based on polling data but it was rejected.

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J.J. Elliot confronts Marshall and notifies him that Deputy Yates is “out to get him” and that the Govenor and the Judge have a plea deal for Irvin that if he pleads guilty, he will receive life in prison, not the electric chair. Franklin Williams was discussed with the deal and was upset that Marshall had even considered it....