Supreme Court Overturns Death Sentence Over Racial Bias in Jury Selection

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of Terry Pitchford, a Black man sentenced to death in Mississippi, finding that the trial court failed to properly follow procedures for evaluating claims of racial discrimination during jury selection. The decision revives a federal ruling that invalidated Pitchford's conviction, and the state may seek to retry him.

"Whether due to confusion, oversight, an overly hurried jury selection process, or some other cause, things broke down, and the ordinary trial-court procedure for resolving Batson claims at step three never occurred."
— Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the majority

Case Background

On October 22, 2004, Terry Pitchford, then 18 years old, and a 16-year-old co-defendant attempted to rob Crossroads Grocery in Grenada, Mississippi. During the robbery, the co-defendant fatally shot the store owner, Reuben Britt.

The co-defendant, being a minor, was ineligible for the death penalty and received a 20-year sentence. Pitchford was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death.

Jury Selection Dispute

During jury selection, then-District Attorney Doug Evans used peremptory strikes to remove four of five potential Black jurors. The trial jury that convicted Pitchford consisted of 11 White jurors and one Black juror.

Pitchford's defense attorneys raised an objection under the 1986 U.S. Supreme Court decision Batson v. Kentucky, which prohibits excluding potential jurors based on race. The Batson framework requires a three-step process:

1. Step One: The defendant must establish a prima facie case of racial discrimination.
2. Step Two: The prosecution must provide race-neutral reasons for the strikes.
3. Step Three: The trial court must determine whether those reasons are pretextual and whether discrimination occurred.

Prosecutor Evans provided race-neutral reasons for the strikes. Judge Joseph Loper overruled the defense's objection without allowing Pitchford's attorneys to rebut those reasons as pretextual, as required under step three of the Batson framework.

Supreme Court Ruling

Justice Brett Kavanaugh authored the majority opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. The majority held that the trial court did not give Pitchford's attorney sufficient opportunity to rebut the prosecutor's race-neutral reasons for striking Black jurors and did not determine whether those reasons were pretextual.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett dissented. Justice Gorsuch argued that Pitchford failed to meet the legal standard for federal relief and stated that the majority "errs on the law and the factual record alike." Gorsuch noted the decision is narrow and applies only to Pitchford.

Lower Court History

In 2023, U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills overturned Pitchford's conviction, ruling that the trial judge did not provide Pitchford's lawyers adequate opportunity to argue against the prosecution's dismissal of Black jurors.

A unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit reversed Mills' ruling. The Supreme Court's decision now revives Mills' ruling invalidating the conviction.

Related Case

Doug Evans also prosecuted Curtis Flowers, whose murder conviction and death sentence were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2019 due to discriminatory jury selection. Justice Kavanaugh wrote in that case that Evans demonstrated a "relentless, determined effort to rid the jury of Black individuals."

Next Steps

The Supreme Court's decision invalidates Pitchford's conviction. Prosecutors may seek to retry him.

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch has suggested the case should return to the state Supreme Court to re-evaluate arguments regarding discriminatory jury strikes.