Poplar Bluff native tells of real-life legal nightmare in book

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — For 35 years, Poplar Bluff native Leatrice Leon Little has wrestled with a nightmare.

But for Little, his nightmare is real.

It began in January 1981. He was attending a class at Southeast Missouri State University when two police officers walked in. To his surprise, they were there for him.

Little was stunned to learn he was being accused of rape.

Despite what he said were plenty of witnesses in Poplar Bluff to the contrary and what should have been exonerating physical evidence from the scene, Little was convicted.

He was incarcerated in the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City and sentenced to 25 years. After six years behind bars, his conviction was overturned, and in 1987, he was set free.

But that wasn’t the end of the story for Little. He still had to live with his memories of injustice.

So one day, he began writing about his experience. The result became a book, “When the Law Corrupts.”

In his book, Little describes himself as a man who always worked to uphold the law. As a youngster, he worked as a newspaper carrier for the Daily American Republic and graduated from Poplar Bluff High School a semester early in 1975 to join the U.S. Marines.

Little later went on to become a trooper in the Missouri State Highway Patrol. He left the patrol to attend college and major in business.

He was sitting in class one day when “two policemen pulled me out of my classroom and asked me to come down to the station for questions. I did, and that was the last time I was free for six years and three months,” Little said. According to an archived article in the Southeast Missourian, Little was charged with raping a Southeast student in her apartment near the university. He was 24 at the time.

When the crime occurred in Cape Girardeau, Little said he was in Poplar Bluff, attending a birthday party with friends and relatives.

According to Little, the victim never saw her attacker’s face, yet identified him four months later while under hypnosis. The victim originally described her attacker as five years younger and four inches shorter than Little, but the photo identification was the key evidence in the case.

“Even though the victim told police she didn’t see her attacker’s face, and the fingerprints and hair sample (taken at the scene) weren’t mine, and my concrete alibi being in another city at a sweet 16th birthday party,” Little said, “the evidence of a woman pointing her finger at you is overwhelming (enough) to help convict an innocent man.”

The first trial against Little ended in a 6-6 hung jury. He was convicted during a second trial.

According to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article from May 7, 1987, Tony H. Hollander, Little’s lawyer, called the conviction “one of the biggest miscarriages of justice I have ever seen.”

His conviction later was dismissed by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, saying the hypnosis-related testimony was tainted and unreliable and violated Little’s constitutional rights.

The Post-Dispatch article stated Little’s conviction was reversed by the Missouri Court of Appeals in St. Louis but was upheld by the Missouri Supreme Court. His appeal in federal court was denied by U.S. District Judge H. Kenneth Wangelin, who did not review the state court transcript of the case, the article stated.

The 8th Circuit ruling said the Cape Girardeau police officer who had hypnotized the rape victim had not been an impartial party to the case and had failed to ensure the proper safeguards for the use of hypnosis. Also, there was no record of the hypnotic sessions.

Little was released April 24, 1987.

“My case shows how people can be railroaded. Change is inevitable, and things are a lot better in many ways, but even to this day, the cancer of racism still lurks in the shadows, and it needs to be eradicated,” said Little, who is black.

After prison, Little said he experienced years of embarrassment and what he feels was harassment because of his case.

According to Little, he has been confronted at work sites and in public places by members of law enforcement reminding him he was let off only on a technicality.

The only time Little’s name shows up on Missouri Case Net is for a divorce. But he said he has been treated like a hardened criminal for 35 years.

After prison, Little said it was hard to find employment, and he worked at various jobs before being forced to retire at age 55.

“I was forced from my job. It was (because of) police showing up at my work and threatening and harassing me. I could not return to work under those conditions,” Little said.

Little said retirement allows a greater amount of privacy than he’s had in a long time.

On Aug. 13, 2015, Little filed a lawsuit against the state of Missouri and the city of Cape Girardeau, seeking $6.3 billion in damages, citing police targeting, police harassment, invasion of privacy, defamation of character, police bullying, slander and emotional distress.

“I asked for $6.3 billion; one billion for every year I was incarcerated. It was dismissed the very next day. Apparently I did something wrong, but to me, what I’ve sacrificed is worth $6.3 billion,” Little said.

A search by a Southeast Missourian reporter found no record of the lawsuit.

Little resides in Affton, Missouri, and is working on a manuscript for his second book. He said documenting his experience has been cathartic.

“Writing helps me relieve stress. It lets me get everything out instead of keeping it bottled up inside,” he said.

Little has a wife and two children, of whom he is proud. His daughter will be a sophomore in college this fall, and his son will enter his senior year of high school. Little finds great enjoyment in attending his son’s baseball games and spending time with his family.

Little said he still maintains relationships with many friends and relatives in Poplar Bluff.

The Southeast Missourian contributed to this story.