Federal Supreme Court Stays Keith Tharpe Execution As Lawyers Allege Racial Bias

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the execution of the condemned killer from Georgia, Keith Tharpe, for the 1991 murder of his sister-in-law, Jacquelin Freeman, three and a half hours after he was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection, reports said.

The court's decision stayed the execution only temporarily while Tharpe's lawyers have the time to put their argument forward that he should not be put to death on the grounds that "racism played a pivotal role" in his sentencing.

In a 6-3 decision, the court’s justices expressed concern about the claims made by his lawyers that one of Tharpe’s jurors was racist, and sentenced him to death because of his African-American nationality, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Tharpe’s execution comes almost three decades after he had been sentenced to death for the murder of his 29-year-old sister-in-law. In August 1990, Tharpe’s wife, Migrisus Tharpe, left him due to their violent marriage and had been staying with her brother and sister-in-law Jaquelin, according to court documents.

Tharpe had called his wife and threatened to “play dirty” after she left him. On Sept. 25, 1990, Tharpe’s wife and her sister were driving to work when Tharpe intercepted their car and forced it off the road, dragging Freeman from the vehicle. He then fatally shot her and later dumped her body in a ditch and kidnapped his wife. His wife was able to call the police later and Tharpe was arrested.

Tharpe's lawyers asked the U.S. Supreme Court and the Georgia Supreme Court on Saturday to halt the execution temporarily, arguing that one of his jurors admitted his decision was significantly influenced by Tharpe's race.

The juror in question, Barney Gattie, was interviewed by Tharpe's lawyers from the Georgia Resource Center in 1998 as a part of Tharpe's post-conviction appeals process, according to Buzzfeed News. During the interview, Gattie told the attorneys that he favored the death penalty because Tharpe was a "n----r" who had killed someone whom he considered to be "‘good’ black folk." Gattie also told the lawyers that his Bible study had led him to "wonder if black people even have souls."

In an affidavit by the now-deceased juror, Gattie had said, "In my experience, I have observed that there are two types of black people. 1. Black folks and 2. N-------."

He mentioned that he knew Tharpe's victim, Jacquelin Freeman, and called her family "nice black folks." The juror also added that if the Freemans had been "the type Tharpe is" then the sentence "wouldn't have mattered so much."

"After studying the Bible, I have wondered if black people even have souls," Gattie had said at the time, Buzzfeed News reported.

In the affidavit, Gattie also went on to invoke the O.J. Simpson case, saying, "That white woman wouldn't have been killed if she hadn't have married that black man."

The O.J. Simpson case had been described as the "most publicized" criminal trial in history, in which the former National Football League(NFL) player, broadcaster, and actor Orenthal James "O. J." Simpson was tried on two counts of murder for the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and a restaurant waiter Ron Goldman on June 12, 1994. During the case, concerns were raised that race riots might erupt across Los Angeles and the rest of the country if Simpson was convicted of the murders.

While requesting a stay on the imminent execution, Tharpe's lawyers argued that Gattie lied during the jury selection and hid the detail that he knew the victim's family. The attorneys also said it would be illegal to execute Tharpe under federal law as he was intellectually disabled, CNN reported.

In a letter to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said, "A juror who doubts whether Black people have souls cannot make a reasoned, moral judgment about whether a Black defendant such as Mr. Tharpe should face the ultimate sanction."

The letter also specified Gattie's statements made clear that "Tharpe’s death sentence is infected by racial discrimination" and is "invalid under Georgia law."