Curtis Giovanni Flowers has won a new trial in the killings...
Curtis Giovanni Flowers has won a new trial in the killings of 4 people because prosecutors sought to keep blacks off his Montgomery County jury, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled.
Curtis Giovanni Flowers has won a new trial in the killings of 4 people because prosecutors sought to keep blacks off his Montgomery County jury, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled.
Flowers, 35, who is black, was convicted in 2004 of capital murder in the deaths of four people during a shooting spree in 1996. The victims were the owner and three employees of the store from which Flowers had been fired: Bertha Tardy, 59; Derrick Stewart, 16, Carmen Rigby, 45; and Robert Golden, 42.
The Supreme Court, in its 5-4 decision, said the trial judge erred in upholding prosecutors' peremptory strikes exercised against two blacks in the jury pool.
Flowers, 35, who is black, was convicted in 2004 of capital murder in the deaths of four people during a shooting spree in 1996. The victims were the owner and three employees of the store from which Flowers had been fired: Bertha Tardy, 59; Derrick Stewart, 16, Carmen Rigby, 45; and Robert Golden, 42.
The Supreme Court, in its 5-4 decision, said the trial judge erred in upholding prosecutors' peremptory strikes exercised against two blacks in the jury pool.
— SOURCES
- (Sources: Clarion Ledger, 29/06/2006)