Jury split in Mississippi KKK killing trial

[maddezmom]

PHILADELPHIA, Miss. (Reuters) - The jury was split after a first round of deliberation on Monday in the murder trial of Edgar Ray Killen, accused of being a Ku Klux Klan leader who recruited a mob to kill three civil rights workers in a 1964 attack that inspired the film "Mississippi Burning."

Judge Marcus Gordon told reporters that after more than two hours deliberating on the evidence of a case that recalled violent racial conflicts in America just 40 years ago the jury was split 6-6. A unanimous verdict is required for conviction.

The killings outraged much of the nation, energized the civil rights movement and were dramatized in the 1988 movie.

Prosecutor Mark Duncan urged jurors to "remove the stain" on Mississippi's Neshoba County, where the killings occurred, and deliver justice by convicting Killen.

~snip~
more: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8843897&src=rss/topNews

[Kraklen]

1. I wasn't watching the trial.

But in the original cases there was overwhelming evidence. Sure hope the prosecutors didn't fuck this up.

[ls317]

2. I hate to say this

I see a hung jury coming... Think about a jury of his peers??? This is the same place where a former mayor the Klan"Was a peaceful organization"

[Kraklen]

3. How many black people are on the jury?

I fear a hung jury as well.

[ls317]

7. I am going to guess none!

[SouthernDem2004]

9. Wrong answer.

9 White Women
4 White Men
2 Black Women
2 Black Men

[maddezmom]

11. that adds up to 17?

:shrug:

9 White Women
4 White Men
2 Black Women
2 Black Men

[SouthernDem2004]

13. Yep, Alternates.... /nt

[Kraklen]

12. OK, now how is the jury split?

Is it 13-4?

I wouldn't be terribly surprised.

[SouthernDem2004]

14. I would be shocked!

:)

There are not 17 deliberating. You are counting the alternates. :)

They say its a 6-6 split. No way of telling how it splits racially.

[ls317]

45. I stand corrected

I had read that the jury make -up was 9 whites 3 blacks.

[maddezmom]

46. that's how it reads in the Houston Chronicle this am, too~

:shrug:

[Sandpiper]

4. Meet the new Mississippi

Same as the old Mississippi.

[SouthernDem2004]

10. Huh?

Lets see the difference:

1) He is on trial.
2) It is not an all white jury.
3) The community thinks he is guilty.
4) People do not fear to testify against him.
5) The Police are not trying to cover for him.
6) The Klan is basicly dead in the South.

[BamaLefty]

15. Exactly.

Nice post SouthernDem2004.

[jobycom]

36. Thank you, SD.

Perfect response.

[QC]

25. It's a pity you have nothing intelligent to add to the discussion. n/t

[Sandpiper]

33. Delete

[atreides1]

5. There will be no conviction

It could be the fact that some on the jury feel a sense of compassion for this man who is elderly and disabled.

Or, the prosecution didn't really present a open and shut case.

Or, 6 of these people don't really think that killing "folks from the North that interfere" should be considered a crime.

As for the prosecutors plea about how the jury should "remove the stain" on the county, perhaps some on the jury consider this a badge of honor, and feel that their part of Mississippi has nothing to be sorry about.

Just a guess on my part.

[dflprincess]

8. I didn't see any of the trial so I don't know what kind of case

the prosecution had. After 41 years it could be that witnesses have died and evidence has been lost. Without the kind of break the prosecutor got in the Byron Delbeckworth (sp) case (finding the murder weapon) it might not have been possible to present an open and shut case. I wonder how many people (black or white) on the jury can remember when the murders happened.

I will be dissappointed if this guy isn't finally convicted.

[Judi Lynn]

21. You surely won't be alone, either. n/t

[Mike Daniels]

42. It could be that anyone who can definitely put the defendant at the scene

refuses to testify for the prosecution.

Kind of hard to prosecute beyond a reasonable doubt when you don't have the required evidence or witnesses.

[stillcool]

6. I don't understand....

didn't they just have closing arguments like yesterday? If so, how does anybody know where the jury is at? Do they do a play by play or something?

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[GarySeven]

17. Thank you for your service to your country ...

as indicated by your Vietnam service ribbon.

Thank you for your sacrifices that allow people in a free country to use INSENSITIVE RACIST DISGUSTING words.

[SouthernDem2004]

18. That is a tad uncalled for. Please edit and rephrase.

[DemoTex]

19. Neither of you have a clue,actually.

I called down Lott and Chochran in their terms, not mine. Sorry you are so atavistic as not to recognize that. Look up atavistic, dude. Get a life.

Mac

[struggle4progress]

20. Some words are just so ugly that nobody with any decency uses em.

[DemoTex]

22. Look at the context ..

Then get your panties out of their wad. Jesus?

[jaysunb]

23. I'm Black

and I aint mad at cha :hi:
Also a Viet Vet and born in Mississippi. Chaney was my step Dads cousin. He's buried in the Family church yard (Okatibee Baptist).

[chebychev]

24. Hey, I don't post much,

but I have to jump in here. I'm an African American woman, and I cheered when Trent Lott was forced out of Senate leadership for sucking up to Thurmond.

What you just did was worse than Lott.

[jaysunb]

26. As you get a little older

you may see things in a different light.
I look at the post in a context that would allow his words.

I've been a soldier in OUR army for more than 40 years, so go easy on things at first blush.

[chebychev]

27. I disagree.

You would then have to look at Lott's words in "context". See? "Oh, he was just humoring an old man on his birthday!" Bullshit! Words are words. That other poster offended me and he should have offended you too, brother.

[jaysunb]

29. I won't add insult to

injury. A while back I would have exploded, so I understand where you're coming from. But having had these kinds of things said to my face by people who didn't seem to understand how much they hurt, and by those who intended to debase, I've basically learn to put things in a proper perspective. Insensitivity isn't always hateful...it may be misguided , but not intended to hurt, there's a difference.

I feel the poster was being a blunt speaker, using the language that he and most other whites here and elsewhere relate to. Further, that's exactly how it's put among those he was referring to-- I know this from first hand experience.

To you, I apologize if you feel I let you down. You've taught me a valuable lesson....

[GarySeven]

28. I understood perfectly the context he was using ...

it was perfectly clear he was "quoting" people, or more accurately he was saying what he imagined those politicians were "actually" saying.

But the trouble is, those politicians didn't use those words, and the poster's right of editorialization does not allow him to use inflammatory words for shock value.

[dad]

40. z

Main Entry: at·a·vism

1 a : recurrence in an organism of a trait or character typical of an ancestral form and usually due to genetic recombination b : recurrence of or reversion to a past style, manner, outlook, or approach <architectural atavism>
2 : one that manifests atavism : THROWBACK

[saigon68]

41. Go get em Mac

Apparently Rustics

[daleo]

30. It is curious that the judge informed the media of the jury being locked

Most of the important trials lately (well, if celebrity trials are important) have gone days without mentioning how the jury's vote was going at half-time, so to speak. It is hard to believe that a 6-6 jury could move to 12-0 for conviction, though. It looks like he will be acquitted, which seems like a shame to me. But I am just a Canadian, looking on from afar.

[John Q. Citizen]

31. It looks like it's headed for a hung jury, which is not an acquittal. He

could be retried.

[daleo]

32. You are right, sloppy wording on my part.

Although given his age and the fact of one hung jury, retrial seems doubtful to me.

[John Q. Citizen]

44. You might be right about a retrial. On the other hand, if the

prosecutors were willing to try the case at this late date in the first place they may refile charges if the jury stays split.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

[Voltaire99]

34. Of course they're split.

Half want to acquit, and the other half want to nominate him for sainthood.

[Sandpiper]

35. Even if he was convicted

Does anyone really think that Gov. Barbour, friend of the notoriously racist Council of Conservative Citizens, wouldn't grant him a pardon.

[SouthernDem2004]

43. Do you have anything to backup any of your comments?

The only one I see sterotyping and using racial slurs is you. You claim Barbour is a racist and other Congressmen are racist and use racial slurs. So far all we have established is that you have prejudices against the South and you use racial slurs.

Give up while you are behind....


Peace

[maddezmom]

47. a few links

http://bor.musselmanforamerica.com/archives/000646.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/000758.html

http://www.adl.org/learn/Ext_US/CCCitizens.asp?xpicked=3&item=12

[Sandpiper]

50. Here you go

Haley Barbour and the CofCC:

http://www.adl.org/learn/extremism_in_america_updates/groups/council_of_conservative_citizens/CCCitizens_up_1_cms.htm

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2003/10/15/113011/09


And for a taste of what the CofCC is really about, here's a copy of a CofCC regional director's e-mail to Missouri blogger Archpundit:

http://www.archpundit.com/archives/005982.html


And of course, who were 2 of the 14 Senators who declined to sign on to the Senate's lynching apology?

Cochran (R, MS)
Lott (R, MS)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/top10/05/202.html


And how could we forget Senator Lott's lament that Strom Thurmond's segregationist platform didn't win the White House in 1948?

http://www.americanpolitics.com/20021207Baker.html



and you use racial slurs.

Huh? I think you're confusing me with another poster in this thread.

[SouthernDem2004]

51. Yes, my apologies.

I think the slur things was someone else. My apologies for my error.

[jobycom]

37. And that opinion is based on what?

It's a forty year old trial. Some people are going to feel sorry for an 80 year old man, no matter what he did when he was forty. Some people aren't going to find the evidence convincing after 40 years. Some people are going to believe his alibi. On the first ballot, it was 6-6. We don't even know the racial breakdown of that vote.

Slam people you know something about.

[Sandpiper]

39. Delete

[oasis]

38. He should do time for all of the minds he has poisoned over the years.

Dirty rotten bastard.

[onenote]

48. anyone want to re-think their earlier posts?

The knee-jerk slamming of the south, assumptions based on race, etc. etc.

Sorry to disappoint you. The South of your imagination is not the reality. That's why this guy was tried and that's why he was convicted.

onenote

[QC]

49. Don't hold your breath.

The haters will just ignore this and continue their divisive bullshit, if their past practice is any indication.

[rebel holler]

52. And the verdict is

guilty.
So there.