Overview
- The justices, who heard arguments Tuesday, signaled support for Terry Pitchford as several pressed Mississippi on why his jury-bias objection was treated as waived, with a decision expected by late June or early July.
- The dispute centers on AEDPA, a federal law that makes federal courts defer to state rulings, and on whether Mississippi unreasonably said he waived a Batson claim, the rule that bars race-based juror strikes.
- Justice Brett Kavanaugh pressed Solicitor General Scott Stewart on what else the defense could have been objecting to besides pretext, citing the transcript to say counsel was trying to make that point.
- U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills overturned Pitchford’s conviction in 2023, but the 5th Circuit reversed under AEDPA, a split Kavanaugh highlighted as he praised Mills’ experience and reading of the record.
- At the 2006 trial, prosecutor Doug Evans struck four Black prospective jurors and a jury with one Black member convicted Pitchford, drawing comparisons to the Court’s 2019 Flowers ruling involving the same prosecutor.