Supreme Court Rules for Black Death Row Inmate, Questions Removal of Black Jurors

The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a Black Mississippi death row who was convicted in the killing of a grocery store owner. On May 28, the court ruled 5-4 after the inmate’s legal team argued there was racial bias in the composition of the jury that convicted him.

Terry Pitchford, 40, was 18 years old when he and a friend decided to rob the Crossroads Grocery. His friend shot store owner Reuben Britt three times. However, because the friend was younger than 18 at the time of the killing, he was ineligible for the death penalty. Meanwhile, Pitchford went to trial on capital murder charges and was sentenced to death.

The jury for his trial included 11 white jurors and one Black juror. According to records, prosecutor Doug Evans excused four other Black jurors at Pitchford’s trial. The now-retired prosecutor allegedly has a history of dismissing Black jurors for discriminatory reasons.

This goes against the ruling by the Supreme Court 40 years ago. In Batson v. Kentucky, the court ruled that jurors could not be excused based on their race. The ruling also allows the trial judge to evaluate any claims of discrimination or racial bias.

On Thursday, in his ruling, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote, “In this case, whether due to confusion, oversight, an overly hurried jury selection process, or some other cause, things broke down.”

Meanwhile, Joseph Perkovich, who argued the case on behalf of Pitchford, wrote in an email, “Mr. Pitchford is now entitled to a fair trial in the state court.” However, it remains unclear what would happen next in the case.

Justice Neil Gorsuch suggested that the prosecution could still argue to keep Pitchford’s conviction sustained. In case it is overturned, he could get a new trial.

In his ruling, Kavanaugh noted that Pitchford’s legal team made necessary arguments and the state high court acted accordingly. Gorsuch, who dissented, noted that the defense had to show that no fair-minded judge could rule as the Mississippi court. He also needed to prove that the record in the case was clean.

Gorsuch wrote, “As I see things, Mr. Pitchford has failed to satisfy either of these standards.” Pitchford’s lengthy case had been moving through the court system for 20 years at this point. In 2023, U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills overturned his conviction.

He noted that the trial judge did not give his legal team enough chance to show that the prosecution dismissed jurors based on race. Mills wrote that his ruling was influenced by Evans’ actions in a prior case, where he dismissed jurors based on discrimination. A unanimous panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Mills’ ruling.