Jackson, Mississippi - A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction of a reputed Ku Klux Klan member accused in the murder of two black men in rural Mississippi. Two of the three judges said Friday the evidence in the case against James Ford Seale was sufficient to uphold a 2007 conviction. The decision came from the U.S. Court of appeals in New Orleans.
The dissenting judge said too much time had passed to prosecute. Seale, now 74, is serving three life sentences in federal prison.
The victims, Charles Moore and Henry Dee, were kidnapped in the woods near Natchez in 1964. Klansmen beat the two 19-year-olds and threw them, possibly still alive, into a Mississippi River backwater.
Defense attorneys say they plan to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
