Corporal Lindsey Scott, April 20 1988 Rape Acquittal

Police were looking for a black man....any black man and Marine Corporal Lindsey Scott fit the bill when a white woman was raped, sodomized and assaulted on April 20, 1983. Lori Jackson, a homemaker who didn't have a law degree or formal experience, did the impossible. She got Scott an attorney, publicized his plight to the media, and did her own detective work....while dying of cancer. Jackson later succumbed to cancer on November 26, 1988 shortly after Scott was acquitted of the crime. Her dedication and perseverance is cited as an example of civil rights activists and advocates who contribute significantly to overturning wrongful convictions. The movie "Dangerous Evidence" is based on her story.

Lin "Spit" Newborn and Dan Shersty, July 4, 1998

On Independence Day in 1998, Lin "Spit" Newborn and Dan Shersty were lured into a party which turned out to be hate crime torture and murder set up by American Neo-Nazi members Melissa Hack and another woman in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hack's boyfriend John Edward "Polar Bear" Butler is currently in prison for their murders, but Hack evaded prosecution until she was charged as an accomplice in 2010. There were other accomplices who have yet to be identified. Ross Hack who is Melissa Hack's brother is believed to be one of the accomplices.

Hate Crime of African-American Man in Salt Lake City, Utah 1990s

In the 1990s there was a murder of an African-American man which is believed to have been a hate crime in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Eric Demart Smith, July 8, 1998

Paul Anders Saustrup chased down and then gunned down 18-year-old Eric Demart Smith after allegedly seeing Smith trying to break into Saustrup's girlfriend's car on July 8, 1998. Smith was an orphan and had aged out of the foster care system. He was unarmed and had not taken anything from the car which lead to Saustrup being charged with murder. Saustrup was defended by Attorney Joe Turner of Austin, who had been initially rejected by the University of Texas School of Law but had successfully argued that Blacks with low test scores had gotten in. Saustrup was acquitted claiming self defense.

Willie Francis, May 3, 1946 and May 9, 1947

16-year-old Willie Francis was executed not once, but twice for the murder of Doctor Andrew Thomas in St. Martinville, Louisiana which he did not commit. Francis who was a juvenile delinquent had been arrested supposedly with the wallet of Doctor Thomas in his possession. The gun used to kill Doctor Andrew Thomas disappeared from evidence. (The gun had belonged to a deputy sheriff in St. Martinville who had previously threatened to kill Doctor Andrew Thomas and is alleged to have been the real murderer.) Francis's court appointed attorney didn't offer any objections, witnesses or defense. Ultimately, Francis was convicted by an all white jury and judge. His first execution on May 3, 1996 was botched and painfully Francis screamed "Take it off! Take it off! Let me breathe!". The Louisiana Supreme Court argued over his last minute appeal filed by Attorney Bertand DeBlanc, but finally the deciding judge Justice Felix Frankfurter who could break the split voted against his appeal. Later on Justice Frankfurter pleaded for his friend the Governor of Louisiana for a commutation which came too late. Willie Francis was executed again on May 9, 1947.

A.C. Hall, October 11, 1962

A.C. Hall, a 15-year-old teen, was shot and killed on October 11, 1962, in Macon, Georgia by two policemen. He had been wrongfully accused of being the perpetrator of a robbery of a pistol from a white woman's car. The woman called the police when she saw someone breaking into her car. The officers drove her and her husband through the neighborhood to find the alleged perpetrator. The couple pointed to Hall as the person who may be responsible and after a foot chase he was shot and killed by the officers.

Paul Guihard, September 30, 1962

Paul Guihard was a 30-year-old French newspaperman representing Agence France-Press who come to Ole Miss University to cover the racial riots. During the chaotic events, he was shot to death and his murder remains unsolved.