March 29, 2024
A U.S. judge has released four blacks accused of raping a woman 72 years ago

A U.S. judge has released four blacks accused of raping a woman 72 years ago

Walter Irwin, one of the four pardoned, speaks with his lawyers when he returns to trial in 1952

debt, Getty Images

Photo caption,

Walter Irwin, one of the four pardoned, speaks with his lawyers when he returns to trial in 1952

In 1949, a U.S. court overturned the false sentence of four black men convicted of abducting and raping a white woman in Florida after 72 years.

Charles Greenley, also known as Crowland Four, Walter Irwin, Samuel Shepherd and Ernest Thomas were pardoned from the state of Florida in January 2019.

None of the accused were alive at the time of sentencing. They were 16 to 26 years old when charged.

Shortly after being charged, Thomas was hunted down by more than a thousand armed men. The other three defendants were remanded in custody before being declared guilty by all white jurors.