Devil in the Grove

In the wake of the Moore bombing, Marshall is assigned an FBI agent to protect him during his stay in central Florida. Klan-affiliated officials in Florida continue to obstruct the FBI and NAACP in their investigations.

Greenberg and Akerman travel to Orlando, where KKK official Bill Hendrix is holding a rally urging his “rebel army” to fight in the event the Supreme Court outlaws segregation. Soon after, Hendrix is indicted for mailing defamatory postcards to journalists and politicians (286).

On February 11, 1952, Marshall and his team of lawyers (Greenberg, Akerman, and Paul Perkins) are driven to the Marion County Courthouse, the site of the retrial. Irvin is present although still suffering after-effects from the shooting.

The defense team raises a number of issues in turn. First, they petition Judge Futch to reverse his prior decision disallowing Marshall and Greenberg from representing Irvin. Fearing another reversal at the Supreme Court, Futch agrees to this.

Next, the defense team argues for a change of venue. Employing a recent academic study, they argue that Marion County’s prejudice precludes the possibility of a fair trial. Jesse Hunter, however, produces elderly black witnesses who claim that relations between blacks and whites in the county are excellent.