Killen Relative Accused of Threat to Judge

[Judi Lynn]

Killen Relative Accused of Threat to Judge

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
The Associated Press
Tuesday, August 16, 2005; 11:56 AM

JACKSON, Miss. -- One of Edgar Ray Killen's relatives threatened to kill the judge before Killen stood trial in June in the 1964 slayings of three civil-rights workers, officials allege in new court papers.

Attorney General Jim Hood filed papers late Monday asking the state Supreme Court to revoke the $600,000 bond that Circuit Judge Marcus Gordon granted Killen last Friday. Hood said Gordon was the target of the alleged threat.

Killen, a preacher and one-time Ku Klux Klan leader, has been free since a few hours after the bond was granted. Killen is 80 and ailing, and the granting of bond pending his appeal could mean that he spends no more time in prison before he dies.

"Prior to the trial, a relative of Edgar Ray Killen threatened to kill the trial court judge and other individuals in the courtroom," Hood's petition to the Supreme Court said. It did not name the relative.
(snip/...)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/16/AR2005081600596.html
(Free registration required)

[Judi Lynn]

1. Killen's brother threatened trial judge, state alleges

August 16, 2005
Killen's brother threatened trial judge, state alleges

By Jerry Mitchell
[e-mail]

A relative of convicted killer Edgar Ray Killen threatened to kill Circuit Judge Marcus Gordon and others in the courtroom before the Klansman's murder trial began in Philadelphia, the state revealed in documents made public today.

Attorney General Jim Hood asked the state Supreme Court Monday night to revoke the $600,000 bond for Killen, convicted in June of manslaughter for orchestrating the June 21, 1964, killings of James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman. Gordon sentenced Killen to the maximum 60 years and set the bond after he said the state failed to prove Killen posed a danger to the community.

Gordon confirmed today the threat was made by Killen's 63-year-old brother, J.D., who had a law enforcement escort for the entire trial. Gordon said he learned of the threat from a Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol investigator four days before the trial began June 13.

"The investigator learned through an undercover snitch," the judge said, noting that "nothing happened."
(snip/...)

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050816/NEWS01/50816006

[Judi Lynn]

2. Supreme Court should revoke bond

August 16, 2005

Supreme Court should revoke bond

Circuit Judge Marcus Gordon was correct legally in ruling that Edgar Ray Killen, convicted of manslaughter for the deaths of three civil rights workers, had a right to bond and should be treated like anybody else.
But he was wrong in granting the $600,000 bond and should be reversed by the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Gordon said the state did not prove that Killen, convicted in June and sentenced to 60 years in the 1964 killings of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, was a danger. However, the nature of this horrendous crime and Killen's past behavior shows otherwise.
Gordon on Friday denied District Attorney Mark Duncan's request to stay the bond. Attorney General Jim Hood is asking the Supreme Court to revoke the bond.

It is important that the state Supreme Court reverse this bond ruling. It is also important that it's revoked quickly.

It will take up to a year for Killen's appeal to reach the Supreme Court. That would mean he would be walking around free, the same as he has been for 41 years since those three young men were killed by Ku Klux Klan thugs on a Neshoba County country road.
(snip/...)

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050816/OPINION01/508160312/1008/OPINION

[Judi Lynn]

3. Hood asks Supreme Court to revoke Killen's bond

Posted on Mon, Aug. 15, 2005

Hood asks Supreme Court to revoke Killen's bond

EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. - Attorney General Jim Hood is asking the state Supreme Court to revoke the $600,000 bond that allowed Edgar Ray Killen out of prison Friday, and a majority-black lawyers' group is sharply criticizing a judge for letting Killen go free.

Killen, a one-time Ku Klux Klan leader, was convicted in June on three counts of manslaughter for masterminding the 1964 slayings of civil-rights workers Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman.

Circuit Judge Marcus Gordon set the bond after a hearing Friday in Philadelphia, allowing 80-year-old Killen to remain free while appealing the conviction to the state Supreme Court.

Gordon, who also presided over Killen's trial, said bond "is a matter of law" in a manslaughter case unless a defendant is either a flight risk or a danger to the community.

In a statement Monday, the Magnolia Bar Association said Gordon had "emasculated" the 60-year sentence he gave Killen in June.

"The law did not require Judge Gordon to allow Killen to walk away and return to the community a free man while the souls of James, Andy and Michael remain cramped in their cold, damp graves," the association said.

[NNN0LHI]

4. Prosecutor Says Relative of Ex-Klansman Threatened Judge Before 1964 Trial

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB0DXCGGCE.html

Prosecutor Says Relative of Ex-Klansman Threatened Judge Before Trial in 1964 Slayings

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - One of Edgar Ray Killen's relatives threatened to kill the judge before Killen stood trial in June in the 1964 slayings of three civil-rights workers, officials allege in new court papers.

Attorney General Jim Hood filed papers late Monday asking the state Supreme Court to revoke the $600,000 bond that Circuit Judge Marcus Gordon granted Killen last Friday. Hood said Gordon was the target of the alleged threat.

Killen, a preacher and one-time Ku Klux Klan leader, has been free since a few hours after the bond was granted. Killen is 80 and ailing, and the granting of bond pending his appeal could mean that he spends no more time in prison before he dies.

"Prior to the trial, a relative of Edgar Ray Killen threatened to kill the trial court judge and other individuals in the courtroom," Hood's petition to the Supreme Court said. It did not name the relative.

[Norquist Nemesis]

5. Can someone please tell me if it is SOP

to let a convicted murder free on bond while awaiting appeal decisions?

:grr:

[BOSSHOG]

7. I live in Mississippi and I am

ashamed and embarrassed at this nonsense. I don't know the answer to your question but I do know that Attorney General Jim Hood is a good man. I think its a sympathy decision based on the bastard's age but that should be irrelevant. On the other hand, let his family foot any bill for his pain and suffering instead of the state. He's (killen) a fucking monster in a state full of monsters.

[zbdent]

6. Okay, explain to me where this POS got

the 10 percent ($60K) to post bond?

That would be interesting to see who "donated" that money . . .

[quaoar]

10. He probably put up his property as collateral

[Southpaw Bookworm]

12. Pioneer Fund?

Council of Conservative Citizens? Trent Lott, since we know how much he appreciates those old-fashioned values like segregation?

[Igel]

8. I don't follow Hood's reasoning.

Especially over a 41 year old threat made by a relative.

Maybe if *Killen* himself had made the threat ... even then, it's a pretty dated one.

[BootinUp]

9. The threat was made this year

before the June trial which the prosecution won.

[Igel]

13. Ah.

Thank you.

I misread a sentence in my haste.

It's closer to making sense now.

[wicket]

11. The threat was made in June before trial

And now they are using that to try to revoke Killen's bond.