Prosecution Rests in Seale Trial

justicetalk by Matt Saldaña Strange Bedfellows: Prosecution Rests in Seale Trial that same argument as a rationale to in early May. Gilbert died of natural causes lost,” she said. drop charges against Seale or Ed- in 2003 and never testifi ed in court, pros- “Yes, ma’am,” Edwards replied. wards in 1965, telling the FBI that a ecutors claimed, out of fear of Seale. How- Fitzgerald also brought up Edwards’ grand jury would not indict the men ever, Wingate ruled that the government testimony to a subcommittee of the House because of stories they were abused by should have provided a judicial forum for Un-American Activities Committee in law enforcement. Gilbert to testify between his interview on 1966, during which Edwards—along with “(Seale) was never struck in my ABC’s “20/20” in 2000 and his death in James Ford Seale, his father, Clyde Seale and presence,” Putz stated Tuesday. 2003. During the week between Edwards’ other Klansmen—invoked his 5th Amend- When asked on Tuesday what cross-examination by the defense and ment right not to incriminate himself. he thought of Seale’s statement, Putz redirect examination by the prosecution, “Were you afraid of the Seales?” replied: “It’s an admission.” Wingate ruled that Fitzgerald could refer Fitzgerald asked. Putz’s testimony, though it does to Gilbert only once, to ask whether Ed- “In 1964, I was,” Edwards said. not hold the weight of an eyewitness wards’ own account differed substantially Fitzgerald then asked Edwards what to the crime, stands beside Edwards’ from Gilbert’s. He said it did. he believed would have happened if he had as perhaps the second most damning The judge did allow the prosecution testifi ed truthfully to the subcommittee. piece of evidence against Seale. Much to list a point-by-point account of the dif- “I would’ve been a dead man,” he said. of the other government witnesses ferences between Edwards’ statement and The prosecution has repeatedly made have succeeded in portraying Seale as the media accounts he had read. The most the point that the only reason Edwards is a ruthless leader of the White Knights substantial of these differences—never testifying truthfully now is because he was of the Ku Klux Klan in Franklin reported by media—included the order ordered to do so. Edwards, who has been County—someone who hated African in which Dee and Moore were dumped, offered immunity in exchange for his loss Americans and, even more important which Klansman took each victim out of 5th Amendment rights, has held up his Charles Marcus Edwards was arrested with to the prosecution’s case against him, onto the Mississippi River, and the route end of the bargain. It may seem like a deal James Ford Seale in 1965, but now he has wasn’t afraid to go outside the law to that Seale and others took from Franklin with the devil—Edwards was, after all, the become the crux of the prosecution’s case. achieve his racist goals. Other witnesses County, Miss., to Davis Island, by way of have made it clear that Dee and Moore Louisiana. This fi nal detail, and Edwards’ rosecutors in the James Ford Seale died violent deaths. In their closing assertion that Dee and Moore were alive trial rested their case Tuesday, a case arguments, the prosecution will undoubt- when they crossed state lines, is crucial to built primarily around the testimo- edly instruct the jurors to connect these frag- the federal government having jurisdic- Pny of Seale’s confessed co-conspira- ments. Edwards is the nexus that connects tion in the case. tor, Charles Marcus Edwards. In addition them all. The media has bedeviled the prosecu- to Edwards’ statement, the prosecution One important additional piece of tion so far—ABC’s “20/20” made it im- presented corroborating details about testimony came from John Briggs, son possible to introduce Gilbert’s statements Seale’s motive, the Klan’s search for guns of Rev. Clyde Bennie Briggs. On June 6, and Edwards’ credibility was impugned on the day of the murder and the nature of Briggs testifi ed about the journal that his after MSNBC aired “Mississippi Cold Charles Moore and Henry Dee’s drowning. father kept, which corroborates elements of Case,” Canadian Broadcasting Corpora- The fi nal dagger, however, came from re- Edwards’ testimony, including the search of tion Director David Ridgen’s documen- tired FBI Agent Edward Putz, who testifi ed Briggs’ church for weapons. That same day, tary about Thomas Moore’s quest for Tuesday about Seale’s infamous statement church deacon Oscar Hughes also testifi ed justice, last Saturday. during a trip to Jackson after his arrest in about activity at the church, confi rming Wingate allowed Nester to show a Nov. 1964: that Briggs was summoned to the church. portion of the fi lm to the jury in which “We know you did it, you know you The day after opening statements, Thomas Moore confronted Edwards at his did it, the Lord above knows you did it,” Edwards took the stand and admitted for church, asking him about the murder of FBI Agent Lenard Wolf told Seale, referring the fi rst time on record that he was the one his brother. to the kidnapping and murder of Moore who fi ngered Dee as a potential enemy of “I didn’t have anything to do with U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate reaffi rmed this week his pretrial and Dee. the Klan. that,” Edwards told Moore on screen. decision to exclude deceased FBI “Yes, but I’m not going to admit it; you “He fi t the profi le of a Black Panther. This statement could have damaged informant Ernest Gilbert’s statement. are going to have to prove it,” Seale replied. He wore a black bandana on his head all Edwards’ credibility with jurors because During pretrial motion hearings in the time. It seemed to me that would be just minutes earlier he had denied saying man who identifi ed Dee as a target—but late April and early May, Seale’s defense the profi le of a Black Panther,” Edwards such a thing. However, Fitzgerald managed it’s one the government is willing to make. team fought to keep this statement out of said on the stand, though the Black to avoid a disaster and argued that Edwards Edwards seems motivated by more than a the trial, arguing that Seale was coerced Panthers did not yet exist at the time of was referring to the actual murders, which desire to stay out of jail, however. On June into saying it. However, U.S. District the kidnappings. he never claimed to witness. 5, after the jury had left for a recess, he Judge Henry Wingate sided with the pros- During cross-examination, Fed- Edwards, meanwhile, coolly defended asked to speak to the court. ecution, who noted that Miranda rights eral Public Defender Kathy Nester told his own testimony: “What I told them is “I want to speak to the families of did not yet exist in 1964 and that Seale Edwards, “You can’t name one single detail that I didn’t kill (Thomas Moore’s) brother. Mr. Moore and Mr. Dee,” the former never asked for a lawyer. about the crime that nobody else knows.” I didn’t have anything to do with killing Klansman said to U.S. District Judge “The very defi ance of (Seale’s) reply is This accusation, and several references them. I didn’t put them in the river.” Henry Wingate. Edwards then turned and evidence of its voluntary nature. He’s basi- to FBI reports and the media, led Special Throughout, Edwards has responded looked directly at Thomas Moore, sitting cally telling (the agents) to go pound sand,” Litigation Counsel Paige Fitzgerald to well to attacks from the defense, bolstered on the far end of the front row, whose prosecutor Eric Gibson argued in April. argue that deceased FBI informant Ernest by precise questioning from Fitzgerald. efforts jumpstarted the investigation into Wingate was also unmoved by alle- Gilbert’s statement—which Edwards said On redirect, Fitzgerald referred to Ridgen the Dee-Moore murders. gations of physical abuse made by Seale’s was the only “report” he saw—must be asking, from behind the camera, if Ed- “I can’t undo what was done 40 years friend, Jack Seale (no relation), who testi- introduced into the record. wards took part in the kidnapping of Dee ago, and I’m sorry for that. And I ask you June 14 - 20, 2007 fi ed that he had seen “two or three ribs (of The prosecution wanted to include and Moore. for your forgiveness for my part in that Seale’s) … that were pretty red.” this statement, which Wingate barred at “You didn’t answer them one way or crime. That’s exactly what I wanted to say 10 District Attorney Lenox Forman used the end of two days of witness testimony another. You basically told them to get to you,” he said. The ‘Other Side’ in 1964 ast week, Judge Henry Wingate or federal offi cials were evident anywhere agreed to allow the government to near the courthouse, and none took part show the jury a racial epithet-fi lled in the proceedings.” The paper cited Seale’s Lletter that James Ford Seale allegedly “repeated claim” that law enforcement took wrote to the Franklin Advocate newspaper him to a gravel pit and “beat me up” right on July 23, 1964—two and a half months after his arrest and while enroute to Jackson after he is accused of abducting and helping for questioning.

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