Court Overturns James Ford Seale’s Conviction for 1964 Murders
jonathanturley
Prosecutors were heralded recently for their prosecution of James Ford Seale for the kidnapping of two black teenagers in Mississippi in 1964 that led to the deaths of Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee. The former klansman was tried over 40 years after the crime, but a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that the prosecution violated the five-year statute of limitations for such crimes.
Seals was a former sheriff’s deputy and was convicted of charges related to the killings of two black teens in 1964. However, in 2007, he was convicted of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping, but according to the court this was a good 35 years too late.
