With nine co-defendants all representing themselves, nine court appointed back-up attorneys, plenty of press, and an audience of MOVE supporters, the extensive hearings on pre-trial motions became long, drawn out affairs with the atmosphere of a circus.

MOVE's sharp wit and grueling cross-examinations exhausted the pa-tience of several judges who would resort to having members thrown out of court. As a condition of re-admittance, the judge would demand a yes or no answer to the question, "Do you promise to behave if I allow you to return?" Invariably, the reply was, "I will do what's right."

The trial by Judge Edwin Malmed, which became the longest and costliest in Philadelphia history, did not get started until December of 1979. Among the initial prosecution witnesses was Chief Inspector George Fencl, head of the civil affairs unit who, along with Rizzo, was one of the main orchestrators of the plot to eliminate the MOVE Organization. At past trials and hearings, the courts had often thwarted MOVE's attempts to get high ranking co-conspirators put on the witness stand. Seizing the opportunity, MOVE proceeded to grill Fencl with a vengeance. After four solid days of turbulent cross-examination, Judge Malmed finally cut off the questioning and excused the exhausted witness. The following day, Tuesday January 15, 1980, the courts were closed for a holiday.

On Wednesday MOVE came to the trial enraged. The day before, police had retaliated by staging another raid in Richmond, Virginia where two MOVE women and many children were living including several whose parents were August 8th defendants. MOVE demanded the trial be recessed until they could ascertain the whereabouts and welfare of their sons and daughters. Malmed refused. Some of the more vehement defendants were thrown out as the judge attempted to proceed against the repeated objections of concerned parents. Over the next two days, hostilities continued until finally Malmed had all the defendants removed from the courtroom. He then ordered the back-up attorneys to take over the case despite MOVE's insistence that no attorneys were to represent them even in their absence. None of the defendants were allowed to attend the remaining 47 days of their own trial.