Flowers v. Mississippi

Curtis Flowers argued that his murder conviction from a sixth trial should not stand because the same prosecutor had repeatedly struck Black jurors across multiple trials. On June 21, 2019, the Supreme Court said the trial court clearly erred in finding no racial discrimination in the prosecutor's strike of a Black prospective juror.

The Court heard argument on March 20, 2019, and ruled on June 21, 2019, that the trial court clearly erred in finding no racial discrimination. The prompt does not provide the vote count or opinion lineup.

The decision reinforces that courts must look closely at whether jury strikes are being used to exclude people because of race. That affects criminal defendants and prospective jurors, especially in cases where a prosecutor has a past record of discriminatory strikes.

The Supreme Court has finished this docket action. Any further proceedings would take place in Mississippi courts as they respond to the Supreme Court's decision.

The case asked whether Mississippi courts misapplied Batson, which forbids race-based jury strikes. Flowers argued the prosecutor repeatedly removed Black jurors.

It tells courts to examine a prosecutor's pattern of striking minority jurors, not just one explanation in isolation. That can protect fairer jury selection.

The Supreme Court finished its work on this docket. Any next step would be in Mississippi courts, which had to respond to the Court's decision.