Entries tagged with “Doug Evans

Policy Issues

Prosecutorial Accountability

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Race

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Dec 20, 2023

Batson Relief for Another Mississippi Prisoner Prosecuted by Doug Evans

On December 12, 2023 U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills over­turned Terry Pitchford’s death sen­tence and ordered Mississippi to retry him in 6 months or release him from cus­tody. Judge Mills found that the orig­i­nal tri­al judge failed to allow the defense to prop­er­ly chal­lenge the exclu­sion of Black jurors by now-retired District Attorney Doug Evans, the same pros­e­cu­tor who pros­e­cut­ed Curtis Flowers. This court can­not ignore the notion that Pitchford was seem­ing­ly giv­en no chance to rebut…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Race

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United States Supreme Court

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Jul 12, 2023

Doug Evans, the District Attorney Who Prosecuted Curtis Flowers Six Times, Retires

Doug Evans, the District Attorney who tried death row exoneree Curtis Flowers for mur­der six times, is retir­ing. Mr. Flowers received four death sen­tences, but each con­vic­tion was over­turned when courts found that Evans had ille­gal­ly exclud­ed Black jurors from the jury…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Dec 13, 2022

Curtis Flowers Prosecutor Defeated in Bid to Become County Judge

District Attorney Doug Evans, who gained noto­ri­ety for his mis­con­duct in the six tri­al of Curtis Flowers, was defeat­ed November 29, 2022 in his attempt to become a Mississippi Circuit Court judge. In a runoff elec­tion, Winona Municipal Court Judge Alan Devo” Lancaster (pic­tured) defeat­ed Evans for Mississippi Fifth District Circuit Court judge. Based on unof­fi­cial elec­tion results, Lancaster received 70% of the vote while Evans received 30% of the…

Policy Issues

Prosecutorial Accountability

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Race

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Jan 08, 2020

Controversial Mississippi Prosecutor Recuses Himself from Further Involvement in Curtis Flowers’ Case

After hav­ing been rebuked by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2019 for his pat­tern of racial­ly biased jury selec­tion in the cap­i­tal pros­e­cu­tions of Curtis Flowers and sued in fed­er­al court to bar future race-based jury strikes, Mississippi pros­e­cu­tor Doug Evans has vol­un­tar­i­ly recused him­self from future involve­ment in Flowers’…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Race

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Dec 16, 2019

Mississippi Judge Frees Curtis Flowers on Bail After Six Trials and 23 Years in Jail

A Mississippi tri­al judge has released Curtis Flowers on $250,000 bail, while pros­e­cu­tors decide whether to attempt to try him a sev­enth time for a quadru­ple mur­der he has long main­tained he did not com­mit. Flowers (pic­tured right, with defense co-coun­sel Henderson Hill) was freed on December 16, 2019, after an anony­mous donor post­ed his bond. He had spent the last 23 years in jail, most of it on death…