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TRIALS: A Case of Rape or Seduction?

"One, two, three, Joan must be set free. Four, five, six, power to the ice pick."

A death weapon is an odd object for cheering. So, for that matter, is Joan Little. But the chants of some 500 demonstrators merely echoed the uniqueness of the case that came to trial last week in Raleigh, N.C. What began as an obscure slaying in a small-town Southern jail has burgeoned into an expensive legal struggle and an emotional national controversy. Supporters of Joan Little, the 21-year-old black defendant, have raised nearly $300,000 through nationwide appeals;...

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