WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court overturned an all-white jury's conviction of a black Louisiana man on Wednesday after finding that racial bias tainted jury selection for his 1996 murder trial.
The prosecutor disqualified black jury candidates before the trial and in closing arguments compared the black defendant to O.J. Simpson. The prosecutor said "the perpetrator in that case ... got away with it."
In its 7-2 ruling Wednesday, the Supreme Court said the trial judge erred by allowing the prosecutor to disqualify at least one black prospective juror over the objections of the defendant's lawyer.
