Evening star., 1954-10-03
Six Plead innocent
In Louisville Sediiion
Case, Ask Quashing
BY shs Assoeiossd Pres.

NoSGy = A9h Quu9lIElIS
BY me Associated Press
LOUISVILLE. KY, Oct. A.
Six persons indicted on charges
Of advocating sedition pleaded
innocent today and asked that
the accusations be quashed.
They were indicted after q
grand jury, investigating the
dynamiting Of o Negro's home
ih q white neighborhood. turned
to the possibility the blast was
a Communist plot calculated to
incite racial hatred.
Circuit Judge L. r. Curtis set
Oct. Is for q hearing on dis
missal motions filed in behalf
Of Vernon Baum, S6-year-old
truck driver: /. o. Ford. 70.
Baun's roommate: Carl Braden,
40-year-old copyreader for the
Courier-Journal, and his wife.
Anne. 80: Miss Louise Gilbert,
43. q social worker, and Miss
Larue Spiker. ~, unemployed
factory worker and Miss Gil-
bert's roommate.
Baum also was indicted on q
charge that he set of the June
81 blast that damaged the home
of Andrew Wade w. an elec-
trical contractor.
House Transferred After Sale.
All are white friends of Wade.
Braden bought the house, then
transferred it to Wade.
Bond was set at $4,000 for
each of the six.
Miss Gilbert, a casework su-
pervisor for the Children's
Agency. was the only one re-
leased on bond. It was posted
by Miss Ruth Mellor. executive
director of the Mental Hygiene
Clinic and a lecturer at the Uni
verSity of Louisville School of
Medicine.
Attorney Robert Zollinger,
representing the Bradens and
Miss Gilbert, asked that the in
dictments against his clients be
dismissed because, he said, per-
sons other than grand jurors
were permitted in the grand
jury room during deliberations:
the indictments were returned
and accepted by the court with
out the names of all witnesses
appearing before the grand
jury; the persons indicted "were
by force and coercion and in
violation Of their rights. i
required by the grand jury to
incriminate themselves"
Separate Trials Granted.
Judge Curtis granted a request
that: each of the six be tried
separately. He set a tentative
trial date of November 16 for all
six.
The grand jury's indictments
closed the investigation of the
blast.
Wade and his friends have
contended the blast was de-.
tonated by "anti-Negro hood
lums." Commonwealth's Attor-
ney A. Scott Hamilton said dur
ing the investigation. however,
that he believed it might have
been a Communist plot.
The newspaper employing
Braden once termed the grand
jury investigation q witch
hunt" The grand Jury, in re-
port, raped the Courier-Journal,
the Louisville Times and Radio
Station WHAS, all under the
same ownership, for written and
broadcast material which it said
borders on the obstruction of
justice"
The material had deplored the
bombing but had been critical
Of Mr.. Hamilton's handling of
the investigation.
Courier Journals Stand.
The Courier-Journal replied
editorially: eve do not feel that
criticisms expressed or implied
during this investigation were
belittling of the grand jury. the
broad scope of whose RESPONSE
bilities we greatly respect. We
have criticized certain behavior
and statements of the common
wealth's attorney and his as
sistant. We cannot feel that
full publication of the public
proceedings =. could possibly
obstruct justice"
The editorial added: 1--WE i.
as the newspapers serving this
community. have never over
looked the threat Of communism
but we believe at the same
time that II are to remain a
free nation, the freedoms Of
speech and the press must be
just as available to Communists
as to the rest Of us. -.
1--WE cannot close this discus
sion without once more deploring
the pass to which the original
instigators of this affair have
brought Louisville. Whatever
motives actuated Mr.. and Mrs.
Carl Braden and their friends,
the Wades. their actions have
now brought disaster upon them
and this whole community. Far
from advancing the cause Of
Negro integration, they have
harmed It irreparablv