Supreme Court Asked to Reconsider Irvin Case

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Press Releases, Loose Pages. Supreme Court Asked to Reconsider Irvin Case, 1954. d61bc6de-bb92-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/1039e2c6-b9e9-4e95-b38d-cb6a4705f438/supreme-court-asked-to-reconsider-irvin-case. Accessed November 23, 2025.

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NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND 
107 WEST 43 STREET * NEW YORK 36, N. Y. © JUdson 6-8397 
ARTHUR B. SPINGARN THURGOOD MARSHALL 
President Director and Counsel 

WALTER WHITE ROBERT L. CARTER 
Secretary Assistant Counsel 

ALLAN KNIGHT CHALMERS ARNOLD DE MILLE 
Treasurer Press Relations 

CONSIDER IRVIN CASE January 22, 1954 

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan, 22.-- A petition for reconsideration of its refusal to 

hear the appeal of Walter Lee Irvin from a death sentence imposed by Florida courts 

in the famous Groveland case was filed in the United States Supreme Court here 

January 19 by attorneys for the Netional Association for the Advancement of Colored 

People. 

Irvin was convicted of the rape of a Groveland farm woman in 1949 despite his 

steadfast denials and the contention of his lawyers that he was denied due process of 

law. He was granted a new trial by the Supreme Court, but he and Samuel Shepherd were 

shot down by the sheriff just before the new trial was to have been held in November, 

1951. Shepherd died of his wounds. A third defendant was shot to death by a posse 

before he was ever arrested. A fourth, a lad of 16 at the time, was sentenced to life 

imprisonment and did not appeal. 

Irvin was found "guilty" at the second trial in 1952 after a jury deliberated 

one hour and twenty-three minutes. After being denied redress by the highest Florida 

court, Irvin appealed to the nation's highest court last November, but a writ of 

certiorari was not granted. The present petition is a request that the Supreme Court 

reconsider and grant the writ.

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Supreme Court Asked to Reconsider Irvin Case

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