"By your vicious act," intoned Mary land Judge James H. Pugh, "you are not entitled to any consideration by the court. You were so ravenous that nothing could prevent you from committing this treacherous act. You were determined to satisfy your passionate desires." He then proceeded to sentence two Negro defendants—James and John Giles—to the gas chamber for the rape of a white girl near Spencerville, Md. In a separate trial, a third defendant, Joseph Johnson, was also convicted and condemned. Though the three hardly thought so then, they were actually lucky to get the death sentence. The punishment...
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