The court refused to resurrect a lawsuit filed by the victim's children, saying the statute of limitations had passed.
By Associated Press
Published August 13, 2003
JACKSONVILLE - An alleged racist coverup by Jacksonville detectives did not prevent the children of a black woman slain nearly 40 years ago from suing the killers and police before the statute of limitations expired, a federal appeals court ruled.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta refused Monday to resurrect a lawsuit filed by Johnnie Mae Chappell's children, ruling that there is no evidence the alleged 1964 coverup prevented the family from suing before the deadline.
"The tragic death of Johnnie Mae Chappell and the inexcusable conduct of the defendants, as alleged, are sad reminders of the damage done to the integrity of our justice system and to our society by racial hatred and strife," the judges wrote. "However, we cannot find that the facts alleged here are sufficient to constitute a violation of the right of access to the courts."
Chappell's youngest son vowed to fight on.
"We are the only voice my mother has," Shelton Chappell said. "I'm going to fight on until I can't fight anymore."
Johnnie Mae Chappell, 35, was fatally shot from a passing car on March 23, 1964, the day race riots gripped Jacksonville.
Four white men were arrested five months later by two police detectives who claimed white supervisors covered up the crime by destroying evidence and never assigning the case for investigation. The detectives claim they were removed from the case and later fired.
One of the defendants, J.W. Rich, served three years in prison after a jury convicted him of manslaughter. Prosecutors dropped charges against the other three, citing insufficient evidence.
Chappell's children filed suit after learning of the alleged coverup when one of the detectives, C. Lee Cody, approached Shelton Chappell at a 1996 memorial service.
Shelton sued the four men and Jacksonville police. A federal court judge dismissed the case in 2001, saying the statute of limitations had passed.
Florida's statute of limitations for deprivation of rights lawsuits is four years from the time the victim learns of the wrongdoing. Chappell's children claimed they didn't have enough information to sue until they were told of the coverup. But the court disagreed.
"The Chappell children knew that their mother had been murdered, who the alleged perpetrators were and that Rich had been convicted of manslaughter ... before the statute of limitations for a wrongful death suit expired," the opinion said.
