Divided Supreme Court Overturns State Death Row Conviction

Pitchford appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court and later sought relief in the federal district court in Mississippi

The federal court ruled in his favor and overturned the conviction, finding that the trial judge had been “seemingly eager to proceed to the case itself, quickly deemed the reasons as race-neutral and moved on. ”

However, the U. S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court and put Pitchford back on death row.