U.S. Supreme Court stays Georgia execution

JACKSON, Ga. — The U.S. Supreme Court granted a temporary stay of execution Tuesday night for a Georgia man whose attorneys argue that the 59-yearold black man is intellectually disabled and that his death sentence is tainted by a juror’s racial bias.

Keith Leroy Tharpe was set to be put to death at 7 p.m. EDT at the state prison by injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital, but the hour came and went as the justices considered his case. Just before 11 p.m. EDT, the court announced the temporary stay.

Tharpe was convicted of murder and two counts of kidnapping in the September 1990 slaying of Jaquelyn Freeman.

Freeman was traveling to work with Tharpe’s estranged wife when Tharpe blocked their vehicle and fatally shot Freeman.

Years after Tharpe’s trial, a juror freely used a racial slur when he was interviewed by Tharpe’s legal team, according to filings by Tharpe’s lawyers. Juror Barney Gattie, who has since died, also said Freeman was from a family of “good black folks,” but Tharpe wasn’t in that category and should be executed, according to an affidavit.

Gattie later said his comments had been “taken all out of proportion” and “misconstrued.” He testified he voted for the death penalty because of the facts, not because of Tharpe’s race.

Lawyers for the state said in court filings that Tharpe’s intellectual disability claim already has been reviewed and rejected by the courts. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled people with mental impairment are ineligible for execution.

The state also said the juror racial bias claim was barred by evidence rules and that there is insufficient evidence to show that juror bias affected the trial’s outcome.

The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed with the state lawyers and refused to stop the execution, and Tharpe’s attorneys appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.