Flowers v. Mississippi

139 S.Ct. 2228 (2019)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D allegedly murdered four people. D is black. Bertha Tardy, Robert Golden, Derrick Stewart, and Carmen Rigby were murdered at the Tardy Furniture store in Winona. Three of the four victims were white; one was black. He has been tried six separate times before a jury for murder. The same lead prosecutor represented the State in all six trials. At D's first trial, 36 prospective jurors-5 black and 31 white-were presented to potentially serve on the jury. The State exercised a total of 12 peremptory strikes, and it used 5 of them to strike the five qualified black prospective jurors. At the second trial, 30 prospective jurors-5 black and 25 white-were presented to potentially serve on the jury. As in Flowers’ first trial, the State again used its strikes against all five black prospective jurors. At the third trial, 45 prospective jurors-17 black and 28 white-were presented to potentially serve on the jury. One of the black prospective jurors was struck for cause, leaving 16. The State exercised a total of 15 peremptory strikes, and it used all 15 against black prospective jurors. At the fourth trial, 36 prospective jurors-16 black and 20 white-were presented to potentially serve on the jury. The State exercised a total of 11 peremptory strikes, and it used all 11 against black prospective jurors. As to the fifth trial, there is no available racial information about the prospective jurors, as distinct from the jurors who ultimately sat on the jury. The jury was composed of nine white jurors and three black jurors. The jury could not reach a verdict, and the trial again ended in a mistrial. At the sixth trial, which we consider here, 26 prospective jurors-6 black and 20 white-were presented to potentially serve on the jury. The State exercised a total of six peremptory strikes, and it used five of the six against black prospective jurors, leaving one black juror to sit on the jury. In the first three trials, D was convicted, but the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed each conviction. In two of the trials, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed because the court concluded that P had again discriminated against black prospective jurors in the jury selection process. The fourth and fifth trials ended in mistrials due to hung juries. D was convicted in the sixth trial. In the six trials combined, P employed its peremptory challenges to strike 41 of the 42 black prospective jurors. On appeal from the sixth trial, P argued that the State again violated Batson in exercising peremptory strikes against black prospective jurors. In a divided 5-to-4 decision, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.