Joan Little

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Joan Little
Born	1953 (age 70–71) Washington, North Carolina, US
Known for	Being acquitted of the murder of a white prison guard who she killed in self-defense

Joan Little (pronounced "Jo Ann") (born 1953) is an African-American woman who was charged with the 1974 murder 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 the first woman in United States history to be acquitted using the defense that she used deadly force to resist sexual assault.^[1] Her case also has become classic in legal circles as a pioneering instance of the application of scientific jury selection.^[2]