The Supreme Court is seen in Washington, Monday, June 20, 2016, as the court announced several decisions. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court says lower courts in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi must re-examine three convictions for evidence of racial prejudice in jury selection.
The court ruled Monday in the cases of Christopher Floyd of Alabama, Jabari Williams of Louisiana and Curtis Giovanni Flowers of Mississippi. Floyd and Flowers face death, while Williams is imprisoned for life without parole.
The brief decisions followed the court’s May decision to overturn the conviction and death sentence of a Georgia man because of evidence that prosecutors intentionally excluded Black people from the jury.
The May decision broke no new ground, but underscored a 30-year-old ruling that took aim at the exclusion of minorities from juries.
Flowers was convicted after five previous trials over the slaying of four people in a furniture store.
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This story has been corrected to show that Jabari Williams is sentenced to life without parole, not death.
