Mickens v. Commonwealth

This writ of error brings under review the proceedings of a trial in which Joseph R. Mickens, a negro youth between fifteen and sixteen years of age, was convicted of rape and sentenced to the electric chair.

The victim in this case was ravished between 11:00 and 12:00 p. m. on November 24, 19401, on a vacant lot near the Lutheran church in the town of Waynesboro. She immediately reported the facts to her husband, who straightway reported the matter to the police. Early the following day the actions of the accused—the dirt on his trousers and shoes, and the scratches on his face— aroused the…