Celebrities are No-Shows at Carter's 1976 Trial
'It's a half-forgotten case already,' says Nelson Algren; Carter/Artis supporters dwindle to one dozen; press fights boredom
In 1975, the stars jumped on the Carter bandwagon in droves, as shown in the movie "The Hurricane." But in 1976 they quickly jumped off the bandwagon after a top Carter supporter accused Carter of beating her in a motel room, This is the part the movie completely ignores. Months after the Kelley beating, Carter went on trial, but not one of his celebrity "supporters" showed up. In fact, as this article reports, he had very few supporters left at all. Before the 1976 trial, Carter claimed that he would "inundate" the courtroom with celebrities. When none showed up, he claimed he had asked them to stay away so as not to distract the jury!) Read this 1976 article.
