Myrlie Evers, who later became the third woman to chair the NAACP, refused to abandon her husband’s case. When new documents showed that jurors in the previous case were investigated illegally and screened by a state agency, she pressed authorities to re-open the case. In the 1980s, the reporting by the Jackson Clarion-Ledger about the earlier Beckwith trials resulted in the state mounting a new investigation. It ultimately initiated a third prosecution, based on this and other new evidence.^[3]

By this time, De La Beckwith was living in Signal Mountain, Tennessee. He was extradited to Mississippi for trial at the Hinds County Courthouse in Jackson. Before his trial, the 71-year-old white supremacist had asked the justices to dismiss the case against him on the grounds that it violated his rights to a speedy trial, due process and protection from double jeopardy.^[11] The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled against his motion by a 4-3 vote, and the case was scheduled to be heard in January 1994.

During this third trial, the murder weapon was presented, an Enfield .30-06 caliber rifle, with Beckwith’s fingerprints. Beckwith claimed that the gun was stolen from his house. He listed his health problems, high blood pressure, lack of energy and kidney problems, saying “I need a list to recite everything I suffer from, and I hate to complain because I’m not the complaining type”.^[12] The 1994 state trial was held before a jury consisting of eight black people and four white people.

They convicted De La Beckwith of first-degree murder for killing Medgar Evers. New evidence included testimony that he had boasted of the murder at a Klan rally, and that he had boasted of the murder to others during the three decades since the crime had occurred. The physical evidence was essentially the same as that presented during the first two trials.^[3]

De La Beckwith appealed against the guilty verdict, but the Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the conviction in 1997. The court said that the 31-year lapse between the murder and De La Beckwith’s conviction did not deny him a fair trial. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for first-degree murder without the possibility of parole. De La Beckwith sought judicial review in the United States Supreme Court, but his petition for certiorari was denied.^[13]

walkfree.org

1782 – The Spanish captured Minorca from the British.

1783 – Sweden recognized the independence of the United States.

1846 – “The Oregon Spectator”, based in Oregon City, became the first newspaper published on the Pacific coast.

1861 – Samuel Goodale patented the moving picture peep show machine.

1885 – Congo State was established under Leopold II of Belgium, as a personal possession.

1881 – Phoenix, AZ, was incorporated.

1917 – Mexico’s constitution was adopted.

1917 – The U.S. Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1917 (Asiatic Barred Zone Act) with an overwhelming majority. The action overrode President Woodrow Wilson’s December 14, 1916 veto.

1924 – The BBC time signals, or “pips”, from Greenwich Observatory were heard for the first time. They are broadcast every hour.

1931 – Maxine Dunlap became the first woman licensed as a glider pilot.

1937 – U.S. President Roosevelt proposed enlarging the U.S. Supreme Court. The plan failed.

1940 – “Amanda of Honeymoon Hill” debuted on radio.

1952 – In New York City, four signs were installed at 44th Street and Broadway in Times Square that told pedestrians “don’t walk.”

1953 – The Walt Disney’s film “Peter Pan” opened at the Roxy Theatre in New York City.
Disney movies, music and books

1958 – Gamel Abdel Nasser was formally nominated to become the first president of the United Arab Republic.

1961 – The first issue of the “Sunday Telegraph” was published.

1962 – French President Charles De Gaulle called for Algeria’s independence.

1972 – Bob Douglas became the first black man elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA.

1982 – Great Britain imposed economic sanctions against Poland and Russia in protest against martial law in Poland.

1987 – The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 2,200-point for the first time. The market closed at 2201.49.

1988 – A pair of indictments were unsealed in Florida, accusing Panama’s military leader, Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, of bribery and drug trafficking.

1994 – White separatist Byron De La Beckwith was convicted in Jackson, MS, of the 1963 murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers.

1997 – Switzerland’s “Big Three” banks announced they would create a $71 million fund for Holocaust victims and their families.

1997 – Investment bank Morgan Stanley announced a $10 billion merger with Dean Witter.

1999 – Mike Tyson was sentenced to a year in jail for assaulting two people after a car accident on August 31, 1998. Tyson was also fined $5,000, had to serve 2 years of probation, and had to perform 200 hours of community service upon release.

2001 – It was announced the Kelly Ripa would be Regis Philbin’s cohost. The show was renamed to “Live! With Regis and Kelly.”

2001 – Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman announced their separation.

2003 – U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell presented evidence to the U.N. concerning Iraq’s material breach of U.N. Resolution 1441.