USA - California. The U.S. Supreme Court has reinstated the conviction and death sentence of Hector Ayala

The U.S. Supreme Court has voted 5-4 to reinstate the conviction and death sentence of Hector Ayala - even though a lower court found that prosecutors illegally excluded blacks and Hispanics from the jury (see August 29, 2012). The justices ruled that Ayala wasn't entitled to argue that prosecutors systematically excluded minority jurors during his 1989 trial for a 1985 triple murder during a drug robbery. A divided California Supreme Court found there were trial errors but they were harmless. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Ayala was denied a fair trial because prosecutors excused all seven potential jurors who were black or Hispanic. The Supreme Court ruled that the 9th Circuit should have deferred to state court proceedings.