Criminal

Black and white illustration of a Black woman with an afro wearing a collared shirt and jacket.

State of North Carolina v. Joan Little

Episode #274

2024-06-28 05:00:39

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When Karen Bethea-Shields was in college, she heard a judge say, “No way in the world a Black woman can get raped.” A few years later, in 1975, she helped successfully defend Joan Little—a Black woman—who became the first woman in the U.S. to be found not guilty of murder using the defense that she used deadly force to resist sexual assault.