Jerry Paul

Jerry Paul
Image source: Buccaneer 1964

A native of Washington, N.C., Jerry Paul graduated from East Carolina College in 1965 with a degree in social studies and physical education. His time as an undergraduate was somewhat unremarkable. His most noteworthy involvement was with the football team: he served as a end coach for the freshman team rather than as a first-string varsity player. His only entries in the Buccaneer, the student yearbook, are with the football team.

Yet after graduating, Paul earned a law degree and then returned to Greenville as an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). He soon distinguished himself for his readiness to defend African-Americans, often pro bono, in criminal cases. In the fall of 1969, the Fountainhead ran the first of three stories on Paul, noting how the former East Carolina student organized an ACLU chapter in Greenville. Paul’s work with the ACLU and its mission of representing all people in defense of their rights signaled, in 1969, his progressive inclinations towards social justice. Later in life, Paul described himself as “a freedom fighter,” defending the oppressed against a racist judicial system.

Paul attained celebrity in 1974 representing Joan Little, a 20-year-old black woman who killed a prison guard and then fled incarceration in the Beaufort County jail located, incidentally, in Paul’s hometown, Washington, N.C. After repeated run-ins with the law, Little had been imprisoned in June 1974 following her conviction for felony breaking and entering and larceny. Knowing of Paul’s willingness to represent blacks, Little contacted him shortly after her escape. Paul worked with Little, in secret, to extract her from eastern North Carolina to a safer location where she could turn herself over to the authorities. The fear was that if Little had remained in eastern N.C., she would be killed rather than captured.

Paul subsequently defended Little, convincing a jury that Little had been a victim of the sexual advances of the prison guard, Clarence Alligood, and that she had stabbed him to death with an ice pick in self-defense. Then, according to Paul, Little fled for her life, afraid that as a black woman accused of murder, she would get no justice. The jury, in a historic decision, acquitted Little of first-degree murder based on Paul’s claims that she had used deadly force in self-defense against sexual assault. Well before the verdict, the case had become a international sensation, focusing attention on both Joan Little and her maverick attorney, Jerry Paul, then only 33. At issue was the question of whether a black woman accused of murdering a white man could get justice in rural eastern North Carolina, an area described variously as “Tobacco Road” and still, “the Old South.” A native of the region and aware of its lingering racism, Paul had had the trial moved out of Beaufort County to the state capital, Raleigh. He also worked aggressively, using so-called “scientific jury selection,” to eliminate prospective jurors predisposed to prejudice. In the end, the jury included six whites and six blacks. For his outspoken courtroom behavior, Paul was, at the time Little’s acquittal was announced, found in contempt of court and sentenced to fourteen days in jail.

While Paul was admired by many leftist and radical leaders, including the leadership of the N.C. Black Panther Party, the celebrity he attained led many to question whether he was interested in justice for Little or simply self-promotion. Also, the Southern Poverty Law Center, led by Julian Bond, had raised considerable funds – reportedly totaling more than $300,000 – for Joan Little’s legal defense and other such cases, leading some black activists to criticize Paul for profiting off the trial even as they staged demonstrations in the streets without remuneration. Paul did little to convince the public of his commitment to civil rights, truth, and justice. In a much-publicized quote expressing cynicism about the American judicial system, Paul stated, “This system doesn’t want justice, it wants convictions. That’s why, given enough money, I can buy justice. I can win any case in this country, given enough money. I can create illusion, anything. I’m going to tell the truth. You must destroy the charade, the illusion of justice.” Paul also remarked, “If somebody gave me a way to overthrow the system overnight, I’d do it. But we’re not ready for it.”

After the Little case, Paul moved from Chapel Hill to Long Island, New York, put his law practice aside, and devoted himself to giving paid lectures on the Joan Little case and racism in America. Briefly, there was talk of a movie-deal about the trial. According to Paul, Cicely Tyson was being considered for the role as Joan Little, and he, Paul, hoped Robert Redford would play Jerry Paul. Within a few years, Paul reportedly began to suffer from migraine headaches which, by some accounts, affected his abilities in court. His competence as an attorney was questioned following the first-degree murder trial of Michael McDougall for the stabbing death of his neighbor, Diane Parker. Despite Paul’s efforts to defend McDougall, he was convicted, and in 1991, executed. Although Paul has since retreated from public life, his defense of Joan Little secured for him historic standing in cases related to race, women, sexual violence, and murder.

Sources

Citation Information

Title: Jerry Paul

Author: John A. Tucker, PhD

Date of Publication: 6/25/2019

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