In a remarkable case, the Supreme Court on Friday threw out the murder conviction of a Mississippi man on death row who had alleged deep-seated racial bias in jury selection cost him a fair trial.
Curtis Flowers has already been tried an extraordinary six times, after prosecutors’ first five attempts to convict him failed due to prosecutorial misconduct, allegations of racism and deadlocked juries. For the past 22 years, Flowers has been adamant about his innocence.
The court’s decision now sets the stage for an unprecedented potential seventh trial.
“All of the relevant and facts circumstances taken together establish that the trial court committed clear error in concluding that the state’s peremptory strike of black prospective juror Carolyn Wright [in the sixth trial] ‘was not motivated in substantial part by discriminatory intent,'” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the court’s 7-2 majority.
Kavanaugh made clear the case breaks “no new legal ground” but rather enforces existing precedent.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch dissented.
Flowers, who is African-American, was first convicted in 1997 for the 1996 execution-style murders of four people at a furniture store where he used to work. He had no criminal record at the time of his arrest. Prosecutors never found a murder weapon or any physical evidence tying him to the scene. There were no witnesses.
In 2010, during his most recent trial, a jury of 11 white jurors and one black juror convicted him and sentenced him to death.
“Today’s decision distorts the record of this case, eviscerates our standard of review, and vacates four murder convictions because the state struck a juror who would have been stricken by any competent attorney,” Justice Thomas wrote in opposition to the ruling.
Justice Gorsuch noted that the state of Mississippi is “perfectly free to convict Curtis Flowers again.” “Although the court’s opinion might boost its self-esteem, it also needlessly prolongs the suffering of four victims’ families,” he wrote.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
