In 1845, the Tennessee court system was divided into two parts: Circuit Courts, which dealt with criminal and civil cases, and Chancery courts, which handled cases of equity. Appeals could be presented to the Supreme Court, which met in three districts: Knoxville, Nashville, and Jackson. In the Circuit Courts, an indictment was presented and a jury determined whether or not the person or persons in question were guilty of the crimes they were alleged to have committed.

According to this particular Circuit Court indictment, on February 01, 1845, Moses L. Workman, Andrew M. Workman, Landon C. Hale, John L. Baskett, and William Ladlock unlawfully interrupt[ed] a Congregation then and there assembled for the purpose of worshipping the Deity, an act prohibited both by the rules of the congregation in question and by the laws of the state of Tennessee. The men also riotously, routously, and unlawfully interrupted a temperance meeting, attended by divers good and worthy citizens of Washington County, for which they were further charged with riot. They were apparently found guilty of these offenses, since the indictment was forwarded to the Grand Jury on February 26, 1845.