On July 12, 1898, a crowd of armed men intercepted John Henry James as he was on his way from Staunton to face charges of sexual assault. James was removed from the train at Wood’s Crossing, hung from a tree, and shot dozens of times.
As James was being murdered, a grand jury was meeting in Albemarle Circuit Court and learned he had been lynched. They posthumously indicted him.
On Wednesday, Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Hingely will present a motion to Judge Cheryl Higgins that seeks to dismiss that indictment. (read the motion)
“The indictment presented in these circumstances should be without legal effect,” reads paragraph 7 of the motion. “Nevertheless the indictment has remained in the court record, where it stands as an official, but wholly unjust, accusation of John Henry James.”
The motion goes on to state that both the Commonwealth’s Attorney at the time as well as Sheriff Lucien Watts failed to provide a fair trial for James, and that Watts had been present at the lynching.
“The perpetrators of this racial terror lynching acted with impunity because they knew that Albemarle County authorities would not hold them accountable,” reads paragraph 10.
The hearing is scheduled for 4 p.m. and is part of the Community Remembrance Project being conducted by the Equal Justice Initiative.
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