Eventually this will happen. You had these very powerful citrus people who really wanted a very strong sheriff in place to make sure that labor was kept in line, to make sure there was no organizing and union activity. to Groveland in a caravan and once they arrived, they began shooting into (Greenlee had not appealed.) loaded into trucks to get them out of town. He resigned from office in 1973. by Gary Corsair | Mar 8, 2004. [4] He retired to his home in Umatilla, Florida. Directed by Keith Salkowski. Lake County had changed considerably during his time in office, growing in population, with many new people from the North as retirees. Describe Groveland and the surrounding area at the time. The Groveland Four (or the Groveland Boys) were four young African-American men, Ernest Thomas, Charles Greenlee (then a minor at age 16), Samuel Shepherd, and Walter Irvin, who in 1949 were wrongfully accused of raping 17-year-old Norma Padgett and assaulting her husband on July 16, 1949, in Lake County, Florida. Williams met with the three suspects, he found their bodies covered with cuts let Irvin go to the bathroom, Shepherd and Irvin tried to overpower him, even McCall turn the three men over to them for their brand of instant justice. They told McCall was first elected as Sheriff of Lake County in 1944, and successively re-elected until 1972. McCall Greenlee moved to Tennessee after his release and never returned to McCall was acquitted by an all-white jury in Ocala in neighboring Marion County after a lengthy trial. She told precisely in graphic language which was unusual at that time, what had (At this time, most blacks were still disenfranchised by the state constitution and discriminatory practices in the segregated, Jim Crow state; because they could not vote, they were not eligible to sit on juries.). The trial became a pawn in the Cold War as newspapers in the Soviet Union and bruises - the result of beatings administered by deputies to obtain The case started in 1949, when four black men were accused of raping a white woman outside Groveland, Fla. One was killed by a mob a few days later, and the other three were tried and convicted. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Behind the Search for an Apology in the Infamous 1949 'Groveland Boys' Case. In 2007, the Lake County Commission voted unanimously to change a road named in his honor 20 years before, due to his history as a "bully lawman whose notorious tenure was marked by charges of racial intolerance, brutality and murder. This case attracted national attention; McCall was frequently in the limelight.[4]. U.S. Attorney Herbert Phillips failed to return indictments against Lake County Sheriff's deputies James Yates and Leroy Campbell for their roles. I’ve included the medical report that we never saw in the trial [and] the massive amounts of perjury that happened in this trial. In the early 21st century, Gilbert King examined the unredacted FBI files from the case. [12], McCall was indicted in 1972 for second-degree murder by a state grand jury for the death of Tommy J. Vickers, a mentally disabled African-American prisoner, while in his custody. three, the mob looked for a new target. The Groveland Four: The Sad Saga of a Legal Lynching. He refused to call key witnesses and any attempt at a fair investigation He was elected for seven consecutive terms from 1944 to 1972. [1], He lost his bid for an eighth term shortly after being acquitted of the murder in 1972 of Tommy J. Vickers, a mentally disabled black prisoner who died in his custody. Over the following six days, the Guard gradually THE GROVELAND FOUR On the morning of July 16, 1949, a young Lake County farm wife accused four young black men of rape. He was offered a plea bargain but Irvin refused to plead guilty, and maintained his innocence. funds for the defense. radio, "I got rid of them; killed the sons of bitches." Be the first to contribute! So much has changed in terms of racial equality between 1949 and today. Before that time, McCall was said to brag that he had been investigated 49 times and that five different governors tried to remove him. Thomas fled the Prime members enjoy FREE Delivery and exclusive access to music, movies, TV shows, original audio series, and Kindle books. I studied this for many years. man, they started investigating the newspaper and this upset the publisher though they were handcuffed together. self-taught man-he never went to law school. … I’m absolutely convinced there’s no rape that took place. "[10] (Under a one-drop law in Florida, passed in the early 20th century, persons with any known African ancestry were classified as black, regardless of appearance or proportion of European ancestry.) In November 1951, McCall was personally transporting Shepherd and Irvin from Raiford to Tavares for the retrial. "At 6 feet 1 and weighing more than 200 pounds, McCall loomed large as Lake sheriff from 1945 until 1972. confessions. Willie Padgett and Norma's father were allowed to examine the jail. She was wearing a house dress. Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter. Late in life, McCall published a memoir about his experiences, The Wisdom of Willis McCall. Irvin initially moved to Miami, but returned to Lake County for a considered worthless swamp land. [10][11] McCall addressed a Delaware chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of White People later that year; he urged whites to oppose the desegregation of schools. But thanks to Thurgood Marshall pursuing the case when he was executive director of the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial. said that McCall pulled the car over to the side of the road and told the two On the morning of July 16, 1949, a young Lake County farm wife accused four young black men of rape. Harry T. Moore, the executive director of the Florida And that was for Jim Morrison of The Doors, believe it or not. Reviews of the trial have showed it filled with flaws. After Irvin recovered from the shooting, his re-trial was moved to Marion County (just north of Lake County), beginning in February 1952.
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