Appeals court overturns kidnapping conviction of James Ford Seale in connection with 1964 deaths of two black teens in Mississip

Appeals court overturns kidnapping conviction of James Ford Seale in connection with 1964 deaths of two black teens in Mississippi.

(CNN) — A federal appeals court Tuesday overturned the kidnapping conviction of an alleged former member of the Ku Klux Klan in connection with the 1964 deaths of two black teenagers in Mississippi, ruling that the statute of limitations on his offenses had expired.

James Ford Seale was convicted by a federal jury in June 2007 of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the abductions and killings of Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee, both 19. He was indicted in January 2007.

Seale was 71 when convicted. In his appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals, he claimed that he should never have been prosecuted because a 1972 amendment to federal kidnapping laws established a five-year statute of limitations. In its ruling, a three-judge panel from the New Orleans, Louisiana, appeals court agreed, overturning Seale’s conviction and acquitting him.