The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 on March 19 that the conviction and death sentence of Allen Snyder should be overturned because the trial judge allowed a potential juror to be rejected on what appeared to be racial grounds. The decision, written by Justice Samuel Alito, focused on the elimination of an African-American man from jury panel. The Court rejected the prosecution’s non-racial reasons for striking this juror: “The implausibility of this explanation is reinforced by the prosecutor’s acceptance of white jurors who disclosed conflicting obligations that appear to have been at least as serious as Mr. Brooks’.”

Snyder, who is black, was tried by an all-white jury in Louisiana. During the prosecution’s closing argument, he made reference to the similarity between the present case and the O.J. Simpson case that had been recently decided, indicating to the jurors that they should not let Snyder “get away” with this crime. The Supreme Court did not address that issue, but concluded, “For present purposes, it is enough to recognize that a preemptory strike shown to have been motivated in substantial part by discriminatory intent could not be sustained based on any lesser showing by the prosecution.”

The case is Snyder v. Louisiana, No. 06-10119. (Scotus.blog, March 19, 2008). See Supreme Court and Race.