Joan Little

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Joan Little (pronounced "Jo Ann") (born May 8, 1954) is an African-American woman who was charged with the 1974 killing of Clarence Alligood, a white prison guard at Beaufort County Jail in Washington, North Carolina, who attempted to rape Little before she could escape. Her case became a cause célèbre of the civil rights, feminist, and anti-death penalty movements. Little was charged with murder in the death, but was later acquitted. She was the first woman in United States history to be acquitted of murder using the defense that she used deadly force to resist sexual assault. Her case also has become classic in legal circles as a pioneering instance of the application of scientific jury selection.

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