Charles Mahoney is a Black lawyer in Detroit. He grew up the in the only Black family in a small town in Michigan; later, as a lawyer, he establishes a reputation for fighting segregation. He joins and in representing , Gladys, , and , , , , , , , and . Along with Rowlette, Mahoney’s confidence in his abilities and his deep commitment to Detroit’s Black residents make him suspicious of outside influence. Because of this, he initially fights against and the ’s efforts to control the defense from afar and replace the Black legal team with a high-profile white lawyer.