Va court to consider whether to toss incest conviction of former King confidant who has died
LARRY O'DELL
Associated Press
10:39 a.m. EDT, September 5, 2011
http://www.dailypress.com/topic/sns-ap-va--kingconfidant-incest,0,4672963.story

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia Supreme Court will consider whether the incest conviction of a former top adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. should be thrown out because he died while his appeal was pending.

The late Rev. James Bevel's attorney is seeking what's known as an abatement. The idea behind abatement is that the conviction is not final until the appeals process is complete.

Bevel was facing a 15-year prison term when he died of cancer in December 2008. A Loudoun County Circuit Court judge last year refused to abate the conviction after Bevel's victim testified that she would be devastated if the case was wiped from the books. The state Supreme Court will hear the case Sept. 12.

Bevel was the architect of the 1963 Children's Crusade in Birmingham, Ala.

I think tossing this conviction would be a slap in the face of justice. He had due process of law and what he did was despicable.