The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in the case of Terry Pitchford, a Black death row inmate from Mississippi, who claims racial discrimination in his jury selection. The case involves Doug Evans, a now-retired prosecutor with a documented history of dismissing Black jurors for discriminatory reasons. Evans successfully removed all but one Black juror from Pitchford’s trial, which resulted in a death sentence for the 2004 killing of Reuben Britt.
Judge Joseph Loper allowed the jury selection process, and the Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the conviction. The case echoes a 2016 Supreme Court ruling that overturned the conviction of Curtis Flowers, another Black defendant prosecuted by Evans, due to a pattern of racial bias in jury selection. Seven of the current nine justices were on the court during the Flowers case.
The Supreme Court has recently been skeptical of last-minute appeals in capital cases, including rejecting Texas inmate Rodney Reed’s request to test exonerating evidence. However, Pitchford’s appeal gained traction, with conservative justices previously ruling in favor of similar claims. Pitchford, now 40, was 18 when he and a younger accomplice robbed Britt’s grocery store, leading to Britt’s fatal shooting. The accomplice, ineligible for the death penalty due to age, was not sentenced to death.
The case has been in the legal system for 20 years, with Pitchford’s latest appeal focusing on the racial discrimination claim. The Supreme Court’s decision could set a precedent for future cases involving jury selection and racial bias.