Amy
04-21-2004, 07:25 PM
Ernest Avants sentenced last year in 1966 killing of Ben Chester White of Natchez
By Jerry Mitchell
jmitchell@clarionledger.com (jmitchell@clarionledger.com)
A reputed Klansman will remain in prison for the nation's only federal murder conviction involving a race-related slaying from the civil rights era, a court ruled Tuesday.
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the 2003 conviction of Ernest Avants for the 1966 killing of Ben Chester White. Klansmen killed White in an unsuccessful effort to lure the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to Natchez so they could assassinate the civil rights leader.
"There was evidence of his (Avants') guilt for the charged offense," wrote Judge Rhesa Hawkins Barksdale.
U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton said the conviction "says a lot about Mississippi that we were able to bring this about. I think it was a worthwhile effort to bring some closure for his (White's) family."
Avants' court-appointed attorney, Tom Royals of Jackson, criticized the decision: "I wish they'd read the law. That's about all I can say."
Avants' attorney on appeal, Julie Epps of Jackson, said she plans to ask for a rehearing by the entire 5th Circuit. If that fails, she'll appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, a move she acknowledged is a long shot.
In 1999, federal authorities resurrected the case after learning the killing took place on federal soil.
"While all of us would have preferred for the environment in the 1960s to have permitted a successful prosecution by the state, the situation we were faced in 1999 was whether to leave it alone entirely or get the facts back before a jury and bring Mr. Avants to justice. I think we did the right thing," said former U.S. Attorney Brad Pigott.
Avants, who suffered a stroke in 2001, is now serving a life sentence in a Texas federal prison for chronically ill inmates.
On June 10, 1966, three Klansmen tricked the black handyman into riding with them, saying they needed help finding a lost dog. Stopping in the Homochitto National Forest, one Klansman opened fire with a rifle on White and another fired a shotgun. The trio then dumped his body into a stream.
Days later, James Jones confessed to his involvement, saying Claude Fuller fired the rifle and Avants the shotgun. Jones expressed remorse, and a hung jury led to his mistrial. In a 1967 trial, a jury acquitted Avants. Jones and Fuller have since died.
In Avants' 2003 trial, jurors heard two statements from Jones that the defense said shouldn't have been allowed.
But the appeals panel concluded those statements were allowable since Jones was cross-examined. The defense also questioned U.S. District Judge William H. Barbour Jr.'s decision to bar admission of Jones' felony convictions in 1935 for breaking and entering and in 1939 for grand larceny.
Barbour cited the 10-year time limit barring such felonies from being introduced as evidence. The panel agreed.
Source: Jackson Clarion Ledger http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040421/NEWS01/404210381/1002 (http://65.54.184.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=6fb7bc898ea23fff7718e6d29f91ede1&lat=1082592995&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eclarionledger%2ecom %2fapps%2fpbcs%2edll%2farticle%3fAID%3d%2f20040421 %2fNEWS01%2f404210381%2f1002)
By Jerry Mitchell
jmitchell@clarionledger.com (jmitchell@clarionledger.com)
A reputed Klansman will remain in prison for the nation's only federal murder conviction involving a race-related slaying from the civil rights era, a court ruled Tuesday.
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the 2003 conviction of Ernest Avants for the 1966 killing of Ben Chester White. Klansmen killed White in an unsuccessful effort to lure the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to Natchez so they could assassinate the civil rights leader.
"There was evidence of his (Avants') guilt for the charged offense," wrote Judge Rhesa Hawkins Barksdale.
U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton said the conviction "says a lot about Mississippi that we were able to bring this about. I think it was a worthwhile effort to bring some closure for his (White's) family."
Avants' court-appointed attorney, Tom Royals of Jackson, criticized the decision: "I wish they'd read the law. That's about all I can say."
Avants' attorney on appeal, Julie Epps of Jackson, said she plans to ask for a rehearing by the entire 5th Circuit. If that fails, she'll appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, a move she acknowledged is a long shot.
In 1999, federal authorities resurrected the case after learning the killing took place on federal soil.
"While all of us would have preferred for the environment in the 1960s to have permitted a successful prosecution by the state, the situation we were faced in 1999 was whether to leave it alone entirely or get the facts back before a jury and bring Mr. Avants to justice. I think we did the right thing," said former U.S. Attorney Brad Pigott.
Avants, who suffered a stroke in 2001, is now serving a life sentence in a Texas federal prison for chronically ill inmates.
On June 10, 1966, three Klansmen tricked the black handyman into riding with them, saying they needed help finding a lost dog. Stopping in the Homochitto National Forest, one Klansman opened fire with a rifle on White and another fired a shotgun. The trio then dumped his body into a stream.
Days later, James Jones confessed to his involvement, saying Claude Fuller fired the rifle and Avants the shotgun. Jones expressed remorse, and a hung jury led to his mistrial. In a 1967 trial, a jury acquitted Avants. Jones and Fuller have since died.
In Avants' 2003 trial, jurors heard two statements from Jones that the defense said shouldn't have been allowed.
But the appeals panel concluded those statements were allowable since Jones was cross-examined. The defense also questioned U.S. District Judge William H. Barbour Jr.'s decision to bar admission of Jones' felony convictions in 1935 for breaking and entering and in 1939 for grand larceny.
Barbour cited the 10-year time limit barring such felonies from being introduced as evidence. The panel agreed.
Source: Jackson Clarion Ledger http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040421/NEWS01/404210381/1002 (http://65.54.184.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=6fb7bc898ea23fff7718e6d29f91ede1&lat=1082592995&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eclarionledger%2ecom %2fapps%2fpbcs%2edll%2farticle%3fAID%3d%2f20040421 %2fNEWS01%2f404210381%2f1002)