Judge denies Killen request for new trial News
Judge denies Killen request for new trial

[JURIST] Mississippi Circuit Judge Marcus Gordon Monday denied a request for a new trial by lawyers for Edgar Ray Killen [JURIST news archive]. Last week Killen was convicted of manslaughter [JURIST report] for the 1964 killing of three civil rights workers in Mississippi and sentenced to 60 years in jail [JURIST report]. His lawyers argued that the trial was for murder and they didn't expect the option of a manslaughter conviction to be presented to the jury, but Gordon ruled that under Mississippi law manslaughter is a lesser included offense. AP has more.