Death Row bias fear by Supremes

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is giving a Georgia Death Row inmate who came within minutes of being executed another chance to raise claims of racial bias on his jury.

The justices voted 6 to 3 Monday to order the federal appeals court in Atlanta to take up the case of inmate Keith Tharpe. A juror used a racial slur to describe Tharpe years after he was convicted of killing Jacquelin Freeman, his sister-inlaw, 27 years ago.

Justice Clarence Thomas called the court’s unsigned opinion “ceremonial handwringing” in a dissent that predicted Tharpe ultimately would lose his appeal.

Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch joined Thomas.

The appeal stems from interviews Tharpe’s legal team conducted in 1998 with Barney Gattie, a white juror. Gattie freely used racial slurs and said his study of the Bible had led him to question “if black people even have souls,” according to court filings.

Gattie signed an affidavit, though he later testified that he voted to sentence Tharpe to death because of the evidence against him.