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JACKSONVILLE - Relatives of a black woman gunned down 40 years ago because of her race are appealing their case to the U.S. Supreme Court, hoping to be allowed to sue four former suspects and Jacksonville police for covering up evidence.
"If this country is to be true to its Constitution, then they need to look at this case," said Johnnie Mae Chappell's youngest son Shelton.
Chappell, 35, was shot from a car as she walked along a Jacksonville street, the same day race riots broke out in the city.
Four men were arrested five months later by two detectives after the investigators learned their boss had hidden the initial report in his office, destroyed evidence and never assigned the case. When they confronted him, the detectives, Lee Cody and Donald Coleman, were removed from the case and later fired.
One defendant, J.W. Rich, told police he and his buddies were driving around looking for a black person to shoot, although he denies that today. Rich served three years in prison after a jury convicted him of manslaughter. State prosecutors dropped charges against the other men, citing insufficient evidence.
Shelton Chappell sued the four defendants and police after learning the details from Cody in 1996. The case was thrown out by two courts.
An appeals court found that, despite the "inexcusable" cover-up, Chappell's children had enough information to assert a claim long before 1996.
The Supreme Court petition says the appeals court erred by treating the case as a wrongful death claim instead of a claim of denial of access to the courts.