Pitchford v. Cain · ¶15

For the last 20-plus years while in prison, Pitchford has pursued appellate and collateral challenges to his conviction and death sentence. In his direct appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court, Pitchford renewed his Batson argument— in particular, that the prosecutor's purported race-neutral reasons for striking the four black prospective jurors were pretextual. In a divided opinion, the Mississippi Supreme Court concluded that Pitchford had waived his Batson objection by not arguing to the trial court that the prosecutor's proffered explanations were pretextual. See 45 So. 3d, at 227–228. Justice Graves, joined by Justice Kitchens, dissented, reasoning that Pitchford had not waived his Batson objection and that the prosecutor's stated reasons for striking the black jurors were pretextual. Id., at 260–268.

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