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GA HR1008
Resolution
Status
Introduced
1/30/2020
Primary Sponsor
Gerald Greene
Click for details
AI Summary
- Urges the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles to examine the murder conviction of Susan Eberhart and grant her a posthumous pardon if they conclude her conviction was not warranted
- Susan Eberhart was convicted and executed by hanging for the murder of Sarah Spann in Webster County; oral history and research, including the book Susan Eberhart: The Girl at the End of the Rope, support her innocence
- The trial judge failed to follow the Georgia Code of 1861 (effective January 1, 1863), which abolished mandatory death sentences for murder and allowed life imprisonment when convictions were based solely on circumstantial testimony or when recommended by the jury; the judge incorrectly told the jury foreman that a mercy recommendation "would avail nothing"
- Eberhart's defense attorneys presented no witnesses or evidence, her only evidence of guilt came from testimony by two posse members who collected a reward, and numerous mitigating circumstances—including her young age, mental capacity, and subservient position to her employer Enoch Spann—were ignored
- Following conviction, both the grand jurors and trial jurors who convicted her supported clemency, former Confederate President Alexander H. Stephens publicly urged clemency, and nationwide appeals to spare her life were denied by Governor James M. Smith, whose refusal reportedly cost him his reelection
Legislative Description
State Board of Pardons and Paroles; issue posthumous pardon for Susan Eberhart; urge
Last Action
House Committee Favorably Reported
3/3/2020
Full Bill Text
No bill text available