NCJ Number
11540
Date Published
1973
Length
249 pages
Annotation
STORY OF LLOYD MILLER'S TRIAL, CONVICTION AND SUBSEQUENT EXONERATION OF THE RAPE-MURDER OF AN EIGHT YEAR OLD ILLINOIS CHILD.
Abstract
LLOYD MILLER, CAB DRIVER, DRIFTER, A MAN WITHOUT MEANS, WAS ARRESTED FOR THE BRUTAL RAPE-MURDER OF EIGHT-YEAR-OLD JANICE MAY IN CANTON, ILLINOIS. MILLER WENT TO PRISON AS A YOUNG MAN OF TWENTY-NINE AND LEFT, MORE THAN FIFTEEN YEARS LATER, MIDDLE-AGED WITH $58.88 IN HIS POCKET. HE FACED SEVEN EXECUTION DATES IN ALL AND TEN STAYS OF EXECUTION. THE AUTHOR, WILLARD J. LASSERS, UNDERTOOK MILLER'S CASE, ALONG WITH A TEAM OF OTHER ATTORNEYS, AT THE REQUEST OF THE ILLINOIS DIVISION OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION. MILLER HAD ALREADY BEEN CONVICTED AND SENTENCED TO DIE WHEN THESE ATTORNEYS TOOK UP HIS CASE, WITHOUT PAY, AND WORKED TOWARD HIS COMMUTATION. WILLARD J. LASSERS, USES MILLER'S CASE AS A SPRINGBOARD FOR DISCUSSING THE EFFECTS OF PROSECUTION RELIANCE ON CONFESSIONS, PROSECUTION SUPPRESSION OF EVIDENCE FAVORABLE TO THE ACCUSED, THE MINOR ROLE SCIENCE STILL PLAYS IN THE COURTROOM, AND SIMILAR ISSUES THAT TROUBLE OUR SYSTEM OF JUSTICE. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)