WASHINGTON — In a case that raised questions about racial bias in the criminal justice system, the Supreme Court on Thursday threw out the murder conviction of a Black death row inmate in Mississippi who objected when a prosecutor sought to exclude potential jury members who were Black.
The 5-4 ruling marks a victory for Terry Pitchford, who was 18 at the time of the crime. He was convicted of the killing of grocery store owner Reuben Britt during a robbery in 2004.
Pitchford’s accomplice, Eric Bullin, fired the fatal shots but was not eligible for the death penalty because he was under 18. Bullin later pleaded guilty to manslaughter for his role in the murder.
The decision revives a federal judge’s ruling that invalidated the conviction on the grounds that Pitchford’s lawyer was not given an opportunity to pursue a line of questioning that jury selection was unlawfully based on race.
At trial, there was just one Black juror on the 12-member panel in a county that is 40% Black, Pitchford’s lawyers said.
Writing for the majority, conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh said that a defense lawyer “must at least have an opportunity to argue that the asserted race-neutral reasons were not the actual reasons.”
In Pitchford’s case, “whether due to confusion, oversight, an overly hurried jury selection process, or some other cause, things broke down,” he added.
Prosecutors could seek to try Pitchford again.
During jury selection, when prosecutors and defense lawyers can “strike” certain jurors without saying why, District Attorney Doug Evans struck four Black prospective jurors. Evans, who is white and no longer in office, has a history of such practices, according to an American Public Media analysis.
In a notable 2019 ruling, the Supreme Court threw out the murder conviction of Curtis Flowers, another Black man, finding that Evans unlawfully blocked Black jury members in that case as well.
Pitchford’s key underlying argument is that Evans oversaw race discrimination in the jury selection process in violation of a 1986 Supreme Court ruling called Batson v. Kentucky.
In the ruling that upheld Pitchford’s conviction, the Mississippi Supreme Court said he had waived his right to rebut the state’s argument that there were race-neutral reasons for why prosecutors reject Black jurors. At trial, the judge accepted the prosecution’s argument and quickly moved on.
Pitchford subsequently challenged his conviction in federal court, with a federal judge ruling in his favor in 2023.
But in a 2025 ruling, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his claim, prompting Pitchford to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Thursday’s ruling saw Kavanaugh joined by fellow conservative Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s three liberals in the majority.
Four conservatives dissented, with Justice Neil Gorsuch writing that the court had overstepped its authority by ruling in Pitchford’s favor despite a federal law that limits the power of federal courts to grant relief to state prisoners.
But, he added, “if the court’s decision is mistaken, at least its impact is limited.”
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