Jimmy Wilson (robber)

James E. "Jimmy" Wilson (born 1903),He was 70 years old on or before October 1, 1973, when he was paroled. The 1940 US Census lists him as 35 years old. was an American farmhand who was convicted of violent robbery by an Alabama court in 1958 and sentenced to death.Dudziak, Mary L., [http://law.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1061&context=usclwps "The Case of 'Death for a Dollar Ninety-Five: Finding America in American Injustice"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217003619/http://law.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1061&context=usclwps |date=December 17, 2008 }}, University of Southern California Law School, 2007, p.5 His case became a cause célèbre due to the small amount stolen ($1.95) and that Wilson, as an African-American, was convicted by an all-white jury.

The case became a source of embarrassment for the United States at the height of the Cold War, as it suggested that American promotion of democratic principles overseas was hypocritical when it did not seem to uphold the same standards in its own states.

Biography

James E "Jimmy" Wilson was born in Alabama in 1904.1940 US Census Transcription He was illiterate.{{cite news|title=Alabama High Court Denies Plea Of Negro Doomed in a Robbery: Tribunal, in Refusing Rehearing, Stresses Night-Time Aspect of Case, Not $1.95 Total -- Governor May Spare Wilson|work=New York Times|date=September 12, 1958|page=15}}

Wilson was described as a "ne'er do well drifter", who was arrested eight times between 1929 and 1957.{{Cite news|work=St Louis Post Dispatch|date=14 Sep 1958}} By the 1940 US Census, he was living with his wife in Marion, Perry County, Alabama. By 1957 he was a farmhand.

The case

Jimmy Wilson was arrested on July 27, 1957, for stealing $1.95 at night from a 74-year-old[https://archive.today/20140318181616/http://www.death-record.com/l/146557200/Estelle-Barker Estelle Barker – Marion, AL. SSN: 416707145 – Death Records] white widow, Estelle Barker, in Marion, Alabama. Barker also testified that Wilson attempted to rape her, which he denied; although he was not indicted on this charge, as night-time robbery carried a harsher potential sentence.{{cite news|title=Alabama Negro to Die For a Robbery of $1.95|work=New York Times|date=August 17, 1958|page=42}} An all-white jury convicted Wilson of robbery, and the judge sentenced him to death by electric chair.{{cite book|author1=Ronald E. Kates|author2=Warren Tormey|title=Baseball and Social Class: Essays on the Democratic Game That Isn't|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=veNuIBuwhEsC&pg=PA163|date=November 2, 2012|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-0088-8|pages=163–4}}

File:Jimmy Wilson News Story.jpg

What counted against Wilson was that the robbery was violent (Wilson allegedly had choked Barker, attempted to rape her, and threatened her life), that it took place in the victim's home and that Wilson had previously served two prison terms for grand larceny.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Death Sentence On Negro |date=August 23, 1958 |page=6 |issue=54237 |column=C }} Wilson admitted he consumed a substantial amount of alcohol on the day of the incident, and that the robbery was premeditated.[http://law.justia.com/cases/alabama/supreme-court/1958/105-so-2d-66-1.html Wilson v. State :: 1958 :: Alabama Supreme Court Decisions :: Alabama Case Law :: US Case Law :: US Law :: Justia]

Robbery in Alabama carried a possible death sentence at the time, though no one had ever been sentenced to death for stealing less than $5.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19580820&id=qyAsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HMkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1947,1974114 Times Daily] via Google News Archive Search

In September 1958, Wilson's two brothers hired Fred Gray as his legal representative.

The case was appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court, which upheld the death sentence. In its opinion, the Court stressed that the conviction was due to the violent nature of the robbery, and that "the amount of the money ... taken is immaterial."{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Alabama Negro's Appeal Fails |date=September 12, 1958 |page=10 |issue=54254 |column=G }}

International coverage

While it was difficult to find anyone who would speak in Wilson's defence in his home town, the case received international coverage, with critical articles appearing in newspapers all across the world. Protest groups were formed and petitions were sent demanding that the death sentence be overturned.Dudziak, Mary L., [http://law.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1061&context=usclwps "The Case of 'Death for a Dollar Ninety-Five: Finding America in American Injustice"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217003619/http://law.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1061&context=usclwps}} December 17, 2008; University of Southern California Law School, 2007, pp.10-11 The US embassy in London received approximately 600 protest letters.{{cite news|title=Dulles Letter on Negro|work=The Observer|location=London (UK) |date=September 7, 1958|page=13}} Jim Folsom, the Governor of Alabama (who opposed capital punishment), received over 1,000 letters per day urging clemency for Wilson.{{cite book|author=Mary L. Dudziak|title=Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TyT1r03nTCAC&pg=PA3|access-date=July 9, 2012|date=July 31, 2011|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-15243-1|pages=3–6}} The British Labour Party and the International Commission of Jurists likewise sent letters urging clemency.Didziak, p.15 Even the Alabama-based Birmingham Post-Herald urged for clemency. The incident was used as propaganda in the Communist press.{{Cite news|title=Negro's Sentence Protested Abroad|work=New York Times|date=August 27, 1958|page=16}}

The US Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles sent a letter to Folsom notifying him of the immense international attention the case had received. The sentence was commuted to a life sentence by Folsom on September 29, 1958, which was the most he was legally able to do to aid Wilson.Dudziak, Mary L., [http://law.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1061&context=usclwps "The Case of 'Death for a Dollar Ninety-Five: Finding America in American Injustice"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217003619/http://law.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1061&context=usclwps}} December 17, 2008; University of Southern California Law School, 2007, p.18 Folsom commented, "I admit that we have got the worst penal system in the world, including Dark Africa ... I hope the next Legislature will do something about improving the situation."{{cite book|author1=Charles J. Ogletree|author2=Austin Sarat|title=When Law Fails: Making Sense of Miscarriages of Justice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VikeV6sDAJUC&pg=PA35|access-date=July 9, 2012|date=January 1, 2009|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-0-8147-4051-4|page=36}}

Wilson was paroled on October 1, 1973, at the age of 70 and having served 16 years in prison.{{cite book|author1=Jr., Charles J. Ogletree|author2=Austin Sarat|title=When Law Fails: Making Sense of Miscarriages of Justice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VikeV6sDAJUC&pg=PA38|date=January 1, 2009|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-0-8147-6225-7|page=38}} The record after his release is silent.

Jimmy Wilson (robber)

Biography

The case

International coverage

References

Further reading