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| Supreme Court hears Texas inmate's case |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 12/07/2004 |
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The Supreme Court considered Monday whether an almost all-white Texas jury unfairly convicted and sentenced a black man to death, the latest in a string of capital cases to reach the court from the state that executes more people than any other. Thomas Miller-El is challenging his conviction for the 1985 murder of a 25-year-old Dallas motel clerk. Several justices appeared willing to overturn his sentence, pointing to strong evidence of racial bias during jury selection. It was the second time the justices had heard arguments after ordering a lower court to reconsider Miller-El's prejudice claims. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently reaffirmed the conviction. Justice Stephen G. Breyer noted the high court's 8-1 opinion last year found a "strong suspicion" of discrimination. He said black jurors were questioned more aggressively about the death penalty, and the pool was "shuffled" at least twice by prosecutors, apparently to increase the chances whites would be selected. "I'm reading the opinion and thinking, unless something changes here, this is something bad, this is discriminatory," Breyer said. "Is there something different found in the 5th Circuit that wasn't here the last time?" Justice Antonin Scalia countered that the lower court was only obligated to reconsider the conviction, not reverse it, since Texas prosecutors had offered enough evidence that exclusions were made for reasons other than race. "The fact was, the degree of hostility by the black jurors to the death penalty was quite high. If there is a different attitude of the black jurors than to the white jurors, you can't fault prosecutors for striking more of the black jurors," Scalia said. Justice Clarence Thomas, the court's only black member and the lone dissenter in last year's ruling, did not speak during oral arguments, which is his typical practice. Since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, Texas has executed more than one-third of 943 people put to death in the United States. Justices this year issued stinging reversals in three cases involving Texas death penalty convictions on various grounds, a striking number for a conservative-leaning court that generally favors capital punishment. All the cases involved black defendants. The case heard Monday is Miller-El v. Dretke, 03-9659. A ruling is expected by July. |
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