Nellie May Madison [SEP] convicted of
Nellie May Madison
Nellie May Madison (née Mooney) (April 5, 1895–July 8, 1953) was an American woman who was convicted of murder in 1934 for killing her husband. She was the first woman to be sentenced to death in the state of California. Due to public outcry, her sentence was later commuted to life in prison and she was eventually released.
Her case helped garner legitimacy for the abuse defense, a concept virtually unknown at the time in criminal cases.
The case was the subject
gas chamber. (Nellie May Madison was the first California woman to be sentenced to death in 1934, but her sentence was reduced to life.) Except for articles about that year's Academy Awards nominations and Stan Laurel's death on February 23, no other story dominated LA-area headlines in early 1965 more than the Miller trial.
Miller was convicted on March 5, 1965, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Her conviction was upheld on appeal to the California Supreme Court in 1966, and also by the U.S.