Keith Tharpe, Petitioner v. Eric Sellers, Warden

The case asked whether a death-penalty case should be reopened after a juror later made racist statements suggesting bias. The Supreme Court said Keith Tharpe was entitled to a certificate of appealability (permission to keep appealing), allowing more review of whether the case should be reopened.

The Court said Tharpe was entitled to a certificate of appealability, but the prompt does not provide a vote count or opinion lineup.

“Tharpe was entitled to a COA”

The decision gave a death-row prisoner another chance to challenge a sentence allegedly tainted by racial bias. For example, a prisoner who later uncovers a juror's clear racist statement may still get further court review.

The case goes back to the lower courts for the next stage of Tharpe's appeal. Those courts must now continue reviewing his request to reopen the judgment in light of the juror-bias evidence.

It centered on whether a juror's later racist statements were strong enough to reopen review of his conviction and death sentence.

It shows that clear evidence of juror racism can keep an appeal alive. That matters for defendants, especially in capital cases, who uncover bias after trial.

The case returns to the lower courts. Tharpe can keep appealing and press his request to reopen the judgment because of the juror-bias evidence.