Posted on 06/25/2005 5:31:53 AM PDT by WKB
CHICAGO (CBS 2) A judge handed out the maximum sentence to a former Ku Klux Klansman in Mississippi Thursday.
Eighty-year-old Edgar Killen was sentenced to sixty years in prison for his role in the murder of three civil rights workers in 1964.
CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine has the Chicago connection to the conviction, and how it could lead to action in a case with close ties to Chicago.
At the old-style Esquire Barber Shop in Summit, where things haven’t changed much over the years, the news out of Mississippi marked a major change.
The 80 year-old former Klan member's conviction and 60-year sentence for the slayings of those three civil rights workers struck a chord with relatives of the Chicago teen also murdered in Mississippi nine years earlier.
“It sends a strong message,” said Emmett Till’s cousin Wheeler Parker, who was with Till in Mississippi when he was murdered in 1955.
“We know there are people who were involved,” he said. “We know there are people who are out there who know things.”
If prosecutors determine there's enough evidence and decides to proceed, it’s likely they'll come here to the Chicago office of the consultant who helped win this week's conviction of Edgar Ray Killen.
“It should encourage the prosecutors of the Emmett Till case that certainly these cases can be won,” said trial consultant Neal Howard.
Howard specializes in breathing new life into cases impossible to win decades ago. The murder of the visiting Chicago youth, and the crusade of his mother, he says shed new light on the double standard of justice that existed down south back then.
“It was the first case, the first crime, that brought the national spotlight to what was going on,” Howard said.
Till was dragged from his bed and murdered for allegedly whistling at a white women. Simeon Wright was also sleeping in that bed that night. He understood the not guilty verdict in a 1955 trial, and why things might be different today.
“What happened in Mississippi is not only a sign,” Wright said. “It’s telling us if you get this case reopened, you’re gonna get a conviction.”
For Wright, a trial and conviction would bring closure, though it'll never erase the painful memories.
“They will be there. They’re part of me. The good the bad, that’s part of my life,” he said. “I cant get rid of that no more than I can get rid of the good things that happened.”
But it could bring closure to family members here in Chicago. Authorities have already forwarded evidence obtained when they exhumed Emmett Till's body earlier this month. A decision of when and if they'll prosecute could come soon.
Old times there are not forgotten PING
Maybe they can retry the Reginald Denny case in LA while we're digging up old cases where justice wasn't served. OJ and Jacko might actually come to justice after enough years have passed. Well, it's nice to dream isn't it?
I wish that Emmitt Tills killers would be brought to Justice, but if there was a "not guilty", as opposed to a mistrial like the Edgar Killen case, how is that possible? Double Jeopardy would prevent that (although I suppose SCOTUS could overturn that too, they seem to not like the Constitution much these days)
They have another problem here
The killers are both dead.
Thanks, must have missed that part ;)
They found out that he's still dead.
It wasn't mentioned in that article.
The two men who murdered Till, Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam, are dead; however, recently released documentaries suggest that others involved in the murder are still alive and could be held accountable.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jun2004/till-j11.shtml
We have new laws on the books. Violating one's civil rights means even someone acquitted of murder can now be tried on thse new charges.
You're confused -- just like I was. I had to read it three times. But coming from dolts at CBs Chicago it's no wonder.
This 'article' is intermixing two separate issues and doesn't clarify it very well. The convicted Klansman case has nothing to do with Emmett Till. I 'think' they're (CBS) trying to say that if a 60 year old murder like the three 'civil rights workers' (weren't they "Freedom Riders"?) can be solved so can Till's murder. As such there's no double jeopardy.
But since you mention it, here's how the "G" gets around that little 'thorny' Constitutional issue.
If the "G" decides in their wisdom that a State verdict is insufficient punishment or a not guilty verdict is reached, they then take over and charge Civil Rights violations. SCOTUS has upheld this illegal bull-shiite long ago, in the 70's IIRC.This illegally sanctioned double jeopardy action by the "G" also violates the ex post facto clause of the Constitution - as these people are being charged with crimes against laws that didn't exist when said crimes were allegedly committed. SCOTUS has also 'ruled' that this is okay by them.
Thanks for the explanation, I am off to enjoy a beautiful Saturday! Enjoy your weekend.
Exactly why the police officers were tried a second time.
You are one sick ba$tard.
"...recently released documentaries suggest that others involved in the murder are still alive and could be held accountable."
Didn't you tell me that it was Rev. Al who
you heard say this?
BTW, that is SOME website. ;o)
That's true, I have a bad feeling they will find somebody who knew something or heard a rumor and they have to pay.
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