GRENADA — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday threw out the murder conviction of Terry Pitchford, a Black man on death row in Mississippi, ruling his lawyers were denied a fair chance to challenge racial bias in jury selection. The 5-4 decision revives a 2023 federal ruling that invalidated Pitchford’s conviction on the grounds that his defense was not given sufficient opportunity to contest the prosecution’s dismissal of Black jurors.

Pitchford was 18 at the time of the 2004 robbery and killing of grocery store owner Reuben Britt, who was shot three times during the incident at the Crossroads Grocery just outside Grenada in northern Mississippi. Another defendant, Eric Bullin, fired the fatal shots but was not eligible for the death penalty because he was under 18; he later pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Pitchford was tried for capital murder and sentenced to death.

During jury selection, District Attorney Doug Evans struck four Black prospective jurors. The resulting 12-member jury included only one Black juror in a county that is 40% Black. The trial judge accepted the prosecution’s race-neutral explanations for the strikes and quickly moved on without allowing Pitchford’s lawyers full rebuttal. Pitchford’s attorneys later argued the jury selection was unlawfully based on race.

U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills overturned Pitchford’s conviction in 2023, holding that the trial judge did not give the defense adequate opportunity to argue that the prosecution improperly dismissed Black jurors. Judge Mills wrote that his ruling was partially motivated by Evans’ actions in prior cases. In 2019, the Supreme Court had thrown out the conviction of another Black defendant, Curtis Flowers, finding that Evans unlawfully blocked Black jurors in that case.

In 2025, a unanimous panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Judge Mills’ ruling, prompting Pitchford to appeal to the Supreme Court. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the majority that a defense lawyer “must at least have an opportunity to argue that the asserted race-neutral reasons were not the actual reasons.” He added, “Whether due to confusion, oversight, an overly hurried jury selection process, or some other cause, things broke down.”

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in dissent that the court had overstepped its authority by ruling in Pitchford’s favor despite a federal law limiting federal courts’ power to grant relief to state prisoners. Gorsuch added, “If the court’s decision is mistaken, at least its impact is limited.” Prosecutors could seek to try Pitchford again.