August 14, 1974: Joanne Little was acquitted of murder charges for the killing of a white jailer.
The defense said she stabbed the jailer with an ice pick after he made sexual advances. Ms. Little was the first woman in United States history to be acquitted using the defense (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 case also has become classic in legal circles as a pioneering instance of the application of scientific jury selection.
