Pitchford v. Cain (Batson claim)

Send us Fan MailIn a 5–4 decision, the Supreme Court held that the Mississippi Supreme Court unreasonably rejected death-row inmate Terry Pitchford’s claim under Batson v. Kentucky that prosecutors improperly excluded Black jurors during his capital murder trial. The Court concluded that the trial judge failed to complete Batson’s required third step by denying Pitchford’s counsel a meaningful opportunity to argue that the prosecutor’s race-neutral explanations were pretextual and by never determining whether the strikes were motivated by racial discrimination. Because defense counsel repeatedly attempted to pursue the objection and was assured by the trial court that it had been preserved, the Court found it unreasonable for the Mississippi Supreme Court to rule that Pitchford had waived the issue. Applying the deferential federal habeas standard under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, the Court held that the state court had both unreasonably applied clearly established Batson precedent and unreasonably determined the facts, reversing the Fifth Circuit and remanding for further proceedings.Support the show