Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Trespassing |
Sentence: |
30 days in jail or a $100 fine |
Years Imprisoned: |
0.083 |
Year Crime: |
1961 |
Year Convicted: |
1961 |
Year Cleared: |
2015 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
North Carolina |
County or Region of Crime: |
York |
City of Crime: |
Rock Hill |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Diane Judith Nash, Ruby Doris Smith, Joseph Charles Jones, and Charles Melvin Sherrod were black codefendants wrongly convicted on February 8, 1961 of trespassing for refusing to leave a "whites" only lunch counter at McCrorys variety store in downtown Rock Hill, SC on February 7, 1961. Each was sentenced to 30 days in jail or payment of a $100 fine. All served 30 days in jail and were released on March 8, 1961. On January 28, 2015 their convictions were vacated and the charges dismissed with prejudiced in Rock Hill City Municipal Court by Circuit Court Judge John C. Hayes III who wrote in his order wrote in his order the defendants, were prosecuted solely based on their race...Such prosecution is on its face unjust under any definition. On the same day the convictions were vacated of ten defendants convicted in Rock Hill of trespassing on February 1, 1961. Ruby Doris Smith Robinson was 25 when she died of cancer on October 7, 1967." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On January 28, 2015 the convictions of codefendants Nash, Smith, Jones, and Sherrod were vacated and the charges dismissed with prejudiced by Rock Hill City Municipal Court Judge John C. Hayes. Judge Hayes wrote in his order the defendants, were prosecuted solely based on their race...Such prosecution is on its face unjust under any definition." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
22 |
Age When Released: |
22 |
Sex: |
Female |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"State of South Carolina v. Charles E. Taylor et al., No. 1961-407 thru 416 AND 1961 469-472 (Rock Hill City Municipal Court), January 26, 2015 (Motion To Vacate Convictions)" |
Information Location 1: |
http://media.heraldonline.com/smedia/2015/01/26/11/38/t3N4t.So.6.pdf |
Information Source 2: |
"Rock Hill & Charlotte Sit-ins, By J. Charles Jones, www.crmvet.org" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.crmvet.org/info/rockhill.htm |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org