Divided Supreme Court Rules Mississippi Death Row Inmate Faced Racial Bias at Trial

A sharply divided Supreme Court handed a victory to a Mississippi death row inmate who claimed the prosecutor blocked prospective jurors because they were black.Two black teenagers, in 2004, robbed a Mississippi grocery store and killed the white store owner.The teen who pulled the trigger reached a plea agreement and received a 20-year sentence for the homicide. Terry Pitchford was charged with capital murder and went to trial.During jury selection, the prosecutor used peremptory strikes against four of the five black potential jurors. The Supreme Court has previously ruled that the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment bars prosecutors from exercising peremptory challenges based on race.Pitchford’s lawyer, Joseph Perkovich, asked the prosecutor for race-neutral reasons for each strike. The prosecutor offered reasons that the trial judge accepted, but the judge didn’t give Mr. Perkovich an opportunity to rebut the prosecutor, the defense contends. Mr. Perkovich sought to raise the issue again at the close of jury selection, but the judge twice cut off the defense counsel.The empaneled jury — 11 white jurors and a single black juror — convicted Pitchford of capital murder and sentenced him to death.The Mississippi Supreme Court later ruled that Pitchford had waived his right to object by not arguing it to the trial court. Pitchford’s legal team then sought relief in federal court.A federal district judge concluded that the Mississippi Supreme Court had unreasonably determined that Pitchford waived his right to object. However, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court, finding the Mississippi Supreme Court’s decision was reasonable.Justice Brett Kavanaugh delivered the 5-4 opinion Thursday, holding that the Mississippi Supreme Court was not reasonable in concluding that Pitchford waived his opportunity to rebut the prosecutor’s assertions for the peremptory strikes. Justice Kavanaugh wrote that the claim that Pitchford somehow waived his right to argue “does not make much sense and is not a reasonable reading of this record.”Justice Kavanaugh was joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Justice Neil Gorsuch filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Amy Coney Barrett joined.The minority opinion concluded Pitchford’s lawyers failed to prove they had not had the proper opportunity to question the jury selection. “Put simply, Mr. Pitchford’s account of a muzzled defense team is hard to square with the record. But even if it were a plausible account, that still would not be enough.”The case now goes back to the Fifth Circuit, which is expected to return it to the district attorney in Montgomery County, where the trial was originally held, to decide whether to retry Pitchford, who is now 40 years old, within 180 days or release him.“We are very pleased to see the Court recognize the extreme failure of the state courts to enforce essential protections under the Constitution,” Mr. Perkovich, said in an email to The New York Sun. “I have spoken with Mr. Pitchford and he is beyond grateful for the Court’s decision.”

Divided Supreme Court Rules Mississippi Death Row Inmate Faced Racial Bias at Trial

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