Colonel_Reb
Hall of Famer
JACKSON, Miss. - A federal appeals court overturned the conviction of James Ford Seale. The reputed Klansman was convicted in June 2007 for his role in the kidnapping and deaths of two black teenagers in 1964. He was given three life sentences.
Tuesday night, a three judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal ruled, in short, that the statute of limitations had run out on that kidnapping case that happened 44 years ago.
PDF: Court Throws Out Seale Conviction
They're ruling stated "...Seale claims that his prosecution was barred by the statute of limitations establishing a 5-year window from the commission of that crime.
For the reasons stated herein, the panel ruled, "we agree."
16 WAPT news spoke to U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton by phone late Tuesday night about the ruling.
"I'm not completely surprised, we knew that could be a possibility but I'm disappointed," said Lampton. "I thought we had argued that and we were going to prevail, that was going what we viewed as their best, their best point."
During the trial, prosecutors said that Seale and others beat the two men in the Homochitto National Forest and then drowned them in the Mississippi river.
Seale's conviction was touted as a major effort to resolve a cold case from the state's Civil Rights past.
Lampton said he would try the case again.
"I definitely believe that it sheds some truth and light into an era that was just shrouded in secrecy and I think we got to the bottom of the case," said Lampton. "We uncovered the facts and everybody knows what happened."
Lampton went on the say his staff hadn't had a chance to fully review the opinion but that his office would consult with the U.S. Justice Department about the next course of action.
Lampton said he didn't know when Seale could be released from a federal prison facility.
Seale was convicted of kidnapping and conspiracy in the abductions of Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee, both 19. The men disappeared from Franklin County on May 2, 1964. Their decomposed bodies, mostly skeletal remains, were pulled more than two months later from the Mississippi River. URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26633038/
Edited by: Colonel_Reb
Tuesday night, a three judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal ruled, in short, that the statute of limitations had run out on that kidnapping case that happened 44 years ago.
PDF: Court Throws Out Seale Conviction
They're ruling stated "...Seale claims that his prosecution was barred by the statute of limitations establishing a 5-year window from the commission of that crime.
For the reasons stated herein, the panel ruled, "we agree."
16 WAPT news spoke to U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton by phone late Tuesday night about the ruling.
"I'm not completely surprised, we knew that could be a possibility but I'm disappointed," said Lampton. "I thought we had argued that and we were going to prevail, that was going what we viewed as their best, their best point."
During the trial, prosecutors said that Seale and others beat the two men in the Homochitto National Forest and then drowned them in the Mississippi river.
Seale's conviction was touted as a major effort to resolve a cold case from the state's Civil Rights past.
Lampton said he would try the case again.
"I definitely believe that it sheds some truth and light into an era that was just shrouded in secrecy and I think we got to the bottom of the case," said Lampton. "We uncovered the facts and everybody knows what happened."
Lampton went on the say his staff hadn't had a chance to fully review the opinion but that his office would consult with the U.S. Justice Department about the next course of action.
Lampton said he didn't know when Seale could be released from a federal prison facility.
Seale was convicted of kidnapping and conspiracy in the abductions of Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee, both 19. The men disappeared from Franklin County on May 2, 1964. Their decomposed bodies, mostly skeletal remains, were pulled more than two months later from the Mississippi River. URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26633038/