Supreme court hearing Mississippi death penalty case over alleged racial jury bias

Doug Evans, a former prosecutor, removed nearly all Black jurors in Terry Pitchford’s 2006 trial, raising legal questions

The supreme court is hearing arguments on Tuesday about racial bias in jury selection in a death penalty case stemming from Mississippi.

Doug Evans, a now-retired prosecutor, removed all but one Black person from a jury that convicted Terry Pitchford of capital murder in 2006. The judge, Joseph Loper, allowed the juror strikes and Mississippi’s supreme court upheld the conviction.