United States v. Avants

RHESA HAWKINS BARKSDALE, Circuit Judge:

This appeal from a conviction in 2003 concerning a racially motivated murder in a national forest in 1966 primarily presents constitutional due process and confrontation issues. Ernest Henry Avants was convicted for aiding and abetting the premeditated murder of Ben Chester White. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 1111 (murder), 7(3) (territorial jurisdiction over lands acquired by the United States), and 2 (aiding and abetting).

This 37-year delay, and attendant procedures utilized because of it, generated numerous issues. For example, as a result of this great passage…