U.S. Supreme Court refuses to halt execution of black prisoner who suffered racial bias by grand jury
Daniel Stewart
2022-10-11
Archive – U.S. Supreme Court. – Sue Dorfman/ZUMA Wire/dpa
The U.S. Supreme Court — with a conservative majority — on Thursday rejected an appeal to halt the execution of a black prisoner, who was convicted by an all-white jury, some of whom acknowledged racial bias.
Thus, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Andre Thomas, who in 2004 killed his wife, a white woman, their son and her daughter. According to the prosecution, Thomas was in a psychotic state at the time he committed these crimes. While awaiting trial, he removed both of his eyes.
Thomas was unanimously sentenced in 2005 to death for the murder of his wife, Leyha Hughes. His defense filed an appeal in 2021 to challenge the death penalty, arguing that as many as three of the jurors had acknowledged in the selection process their opposition to marriages and relationships between people of different races.
According to the appeal, one of these people who opposed interracial relationships stated that their opposition was motivated by «God’s will,» while another appealed to the alleged need to keep blood pure, while the third claimed that such liaisons were harmful to children not knowing to which race they belonged.
Thomas’ current defense contends that he was not entitled to a fair trial under the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution, as the jury did not act impartially and his former attorney did not object to these appointments to the popular jury, according to NBC.
The U.S. Supreme Court has a conservative majority of six to three. Before the full court dismissed the appeal, one of the three liberal justices on the panel, Sonia Sotomayor, unsuccessfully appealed to her colleagues, reminding them that no jury willing to recommend the death penalty in the interracial crime case «should be tainted by possible racial bias.
The U.S. Supreme Court — with a conservative majority — on Thursday rejected an appeal to halt the execution of a black prisoner, who was convicted by an all-white jury, some of whom acknowledged racial bias.
Thus, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Andre Thomas, who in 2004 killed his wife, a white woman, their son and her daughter. According to the prosecution, Thomas was in a psychotic state at the time he committed these crimes. While awaiting trial, he removed both of his eyes.
Thomas was unanimously sentenced in 2005 to death for the murder of his wife, Leyha Hughes. His defense filed an appeal in 2021 to challenge the death penalty, arguing that as many as three of the jurors had acknowledged in the selection process their opposition to marriages and relationships between people of different races.
According to the appeal, one of these people who opposed interracial relationships stated that their opposition was motivated by «God’s will,» while another appealed to the alleged need to keep blood pure, while the third claimed that such liaisons were harmful to children not knowing to which race they belonged.
Thomas’ current defense contends that he was not entitled to a fair trial under the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution, as the jury did not act impartially and his former attorney did not object to these appointments to the popular jury, according to NBC.
The U.S. Supreme Court has a conservative majority of six to three. Before the full court dismissed the appeal, one of the three liberal justices on the panel, Sonia Sotomayor, unsuccessfully appealed to her colleagues, reminding them that no jury willing to recommend the death penalty in the interracial crime case «should be tainted by possible racial bias.
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