Biography
Joseph Spell was a Black chauffeur prosecuted in Connecticut after his white employer accused him of sexual assault. The February 8, 1941 Militant discusses his acquittal. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/themilitant/1941/v5n06-feb-08-1941.pdf#page=6
The Associated Press report of January 31, 1941, republished in its 2017 archive feature, establishes his arrest at his employer’s home on December 11, 1940 and jury acquittal in Bridgeport on January 31. It also reports continuation of bail while the state considered further action. The acquittal is therefore not encoded as a physical jail-release day. NAACP defense and the racial context connect this prosecution to the civil-rights case discussed in the supplied issue. Exact jail-admission and discharge dates and actual duration remain unknown. Source: https://www.ksl.com/article/news/entertainment/entertainment-news/ap-was-there-the-rape-case-at-the-center-of-marshall-film/46188509