Woods was convicted on the testimony of a 15-year-old girl who saw him walk past her house. She thought he was the man who raped her earlier that morning as she was walking to school. The girl testified that she was certain of her identification, but certainty has little to do with accuracy -- a fact confirmed by research into perception and memory, but one that juries rarely understand. Woods' family members testified that he was sleeping at home during the assault, but the jury evidently believed they were lying, and disregarded evidence that Woods didn't match the description of the rapist that the girl initially provided.

At trial, Woods' lawyer complained that the prosecutor used all his peremptory challenges to exclude black jurors. Unfortunately for Woods (who is black), his trial came two years before Batson v. Kentucky held that exclusion of jurors because of their race violates the Constitution. The trial judge rejected Woods' challenge to the peremptory strikes.

"It's my understanding of the law that the mere striking of jurors because they are black, white or pink hasn't got anything to do with whether or not he gets a fair trial," [the judge] said.

The judge also thought it unimportant that several other girls were raped while walking to school during the time that Woods was in jail awaiting trial, and instructed the jury to disregard his lawyer's reference to those other assaults.