Supreme Court Revisits Mississippi Death Row Case

0:00It's March 29th. This is Global News Today, driven by AI tracking the world in real time. The Supreme Court is diving back into a Mississippi death row case tomorrow, spotlighting Terry Pitchford, a 40-year-old black man convicted in a 2004 robbery murder. Prosecutor Doug Evans struck four out of five black jurors left in the pool, and trial judged Joseph Lover let it slide, without digging into possible. Racial bias That's the core claim as lawyers argue, whether the defense pushed back hard enough, and if the state high court blew the review. Pitchford got death for his part in killing store owner Ruben Britt, though his younger buddy pulled the trigger and dodged capital punishment. The case has bounced around courts for 20 years, with a federal judge overturning the conviction last year over the jury mess and Evans' track, record. But the fifth circuit appeals court flipped that ruling. These echoes the Curtis flower saga, seven years back, where the same prosecutor, judge, and state court got slapped down by the Supreme Court for, where lenteless black jurors strikes.

1:04Seven current justices were there for that one. Lately, the court's been cool on last minute death row please, like the nine Texas inmate Rodney Reitz evidence test last week. Lawyers for Pitchford say the trial judge straight up ignored his duty to check the prosecutor's excuses for credibility, despite objections. Mississippi's Attorney General fires back that Evans had solid race neutral reasons, and the state court got it right. If Pitchford wins, he could walk or face retrial, forcing a fresh look at those strikes. The court's call here could ripple through how bats and challenges play out in capital cases nationwide.