Supreme Court Revives Terry Pitchford Jury-Bias Challenge in 5-4 Ruling
Updated
Updated · Courthouse News Service · May 28
Supreme Court Revives Terry Pitchford Jury-Bias Challenge in 5-4 Ruling
21 articles · Updated · Courthouse News Service · May 28
A 5-4 Supreme Court ruling let Mississippi death row inmate Terry Pitchford challenge his capital conviction over prosecutors’ removal of four Black prospective jurors.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that the trial judge never gave defense counsel a fair chance to rebut the prosecutor’s race-neutral explanations or decide whether they were pretextual under Batson.
The Mississippi Supreme Court had said Pitchford’s lawyer forfeited the claim, but the justices found that conclusion unreasonable because the trial court had indicated the objection was preserved.
Neil Gorsuch, joined by Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett, dissented, arguing the record did not support the majority and warning it sidestepped AEDPA limits on federal habeas review.
Pitchford, sentenced to death for a 2004 robbery killing at age 18, now returns to lower court; the case again spotlights former prosecutor Doug Evans, whose jury strikes also led to the 2019 Flowers reversal.
His death sentence was overturned for jury bias. What happens now to the man who wasn't the shooter?
A prosecutor's biased history voided another conviction. How many other inmates’ cases now face scrutiny?