Supreme Court Turns Away Death Row Appeal Alleging Jury Bias

The Missouri prisoner argued he should be given a new trial because one of the jurors wrote a crime novel about seeking revenge for a traffic accident.

Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor poses during a group photo of the Justices at the Supreme Court in Washington, on April 23, 2021. Erin Schaff/Pool via Reuters

The U.S. Supreme Court on March 31 dismissed a Missouri death row inmate’s petition seeking review of his conviction for the 2005 murder of a highway patrolman.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the denial of the petition. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson joined the six-page dissenting opinion.