News – Statement: Terry Pitchford ruling

STATEMENT REGARDING TERRY PITCHFORD, DEATH ROW, MS.

The Supreme Court today ruled in favour of a black man who has spent 22 years on Death Row, Mississippi.

Terry Pitchford was sentenced to death in the murder / robbery of a shopkeeper, accused of being an accomplice. It was Terry’s friend who fatally shot the shop owner, Reuben Britt.

This ruling upholds the lower court’s decision to vacate his conviction due to potential racial bias in jury selection. This is not the first time the high court has thrown out a capital case where the Mississippi prosecutor – Doug Evans – has faced accusations of excluding black jurors. Only one of the 12 jurors was Black.

This ruling news is a great thing for the State of Mississippi because it highlights the fact that now is the time for MS politicians and legal professionals to come together and take a stand in the name of justice. It also calls out the need for Mississippians as citizens to make their voice heard as they take a stand for what has clearly been an injustice within our State. We cannot and we should not be turning a blind eye and deaf ear to what this case and cases before it represent. It represents the clear fact that MS must reform capital punishment and tone down the rush to place revenge over justice.