A FREE SOUL AT LAST!
Justice Achieved Through an Innovative Partnership
Thu, September 15, 2022
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET
Please join us for a two-hour journey that will begin with the arrest and 1931 execution of the youngest person to be put to death in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This examination will trace the case up to this year, when a new trial was granted to this 16-year-old child, for a murder he did not commit. Not only does this case hold great historical importance, it also connects to current jurisprudence by virtue of its compelling ethical, racial, and socio-economic facets, and the mandate for equal justice under law.
Dr. Sam Lemon, the great-grandson of the original trial attorney – William H. Ridley, Esq. – the first African American admitted to the Delaware County Bar in 1891 – will present the origins of his research on this historic legal case. He eventually spent over 30 years conducting research, visiting the scene of the crime, gathering primary legal documents, and contacting the sole surviving sibling of the late youth, as well as a descendant of the murder victim – Vida B. Robare – to gather additional oral history.
In reviewing the 1931 trial transcript in the Office of Judicial Services, Dr. Lemon reached the stunning conclusion that not only was it impossible for defendant Williams to have committed the heinous murder, but that the learning-disabled teenager had likely been coerced into confessing to the crime, without a parent or attorney present, and that his Constitutional rights had been egregiously violated.
Robert C. Keller, Esq., Alexander McClay Williams’ family attorney will speak about why he chose to take on an enormously challenging case of historic proportions, beset with highly charged racial overtones, and a vexing lack of evidence, except for the original trial transcript long thought to no longer exist. Mr. Keller worked closely with Dr. Lemon and the Williams family for the next seven years, to bring this long-forgotten case back into the modern legal system and to seek justice for an impoverished Black teenager who was wrongly executed for a crime he did not commit
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer will speak about his involvement in the case, and how meeting with Mr. Keller and Dr. Lemon in June of 2021 eventually led to the unusual step of crafting a joint motion to the Court to grant Alexander McClay Williams a new trial.
The Honorable Kevin F. Kelly will speak about the critical role the Court played in this historic case on his last day as President Judge, and the process of ultimately granting relief for a young defendant whose Constitutional rights had been so clearly violated.
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board
Credit has been approved with the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board for 1.00 Legal Ethics credit and 1.00 Substantive credit.
Thu, September 15, 2022
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET