Supreme Court Rules for Mississippi Death Row Inmate on Jury Bias Claim

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled 5-4 in favor of a Black death row inmate from Mississippi who challenged the exclusion of Black jurors during his capital murder trial. The majority opinion found that the trial court did not properly complete the required three-step process for evaluating claims of racial discrimination in jury selection.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the three liberal justices in the majority.

Pitchford was convicted in 2006 for his role in the 2004 robbery of a grocery store in Grenada, Mississippi, during which the White store owner was killed. Pitchford was 18 at the time; his co-defendant, who was 16, received a 20-year sentence. The jury that convicted Pitchford included one Black member and 11 White members.

Prosecutors used peremptory strikes to remove four of five potential Black jurors.

The prosecutor provided race-neutral reasons for the strikes, including one juror returning late from lunch, two having relatives with criminal convictions, and one sharing demographic traits with Pitchford. The trial judge accepted those reasons without allowing further rebuttal from the defense.

Pitchford's lawyers argued they were denied the opportunity to show the reasons were pretextual, as required under the framework established in Batson v. Kentucky. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit later reversed that decision. The Supreme Court reinstated the district court's outcome, allowing Pitchford's conviction to be invalidated and potentially leading to a retrial by state authorities.

The case shares similarities with another Mississippi death penalty matter involving the same former prosecutor, though the court limited its holding to the facts presented here.