The Supreme Court declined to intervene in the case of John Lezell Balentine, a Texas death row inmate who argued his death sentence was tainted by racist jurors — and the biases of his own lawyers.
The high court rejected his last appeal on Wednesday without commentsetting the stage for his execution later that evening.
Balentine, a black man, was sentenced to death in 1999 for the murders of three white teenagers Edward Mark Caylor, 17, Kai Brooke Geyer, 15, and Steven Watson, 15, in Amarillo, Texas, SCOTUSblog reports.
“I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me,” were among his last words, according to witnesses during the execution.
Balentine, 54 at the time of his execution, confessed to the crime but said he committed the murder because Caylor disapproved of the relationship between him and Taylor’s sister and threatened him with guns.
At the trial the following year, racism impacted his sentencing, according to Balentine’s attorney.
They argue that the jury, which was all-white but one-person, was led by a foreman who did not reveal a violent past, did not let other jurors think about sentences besides execution and claimed that he “would need to hunt [Balentine] bas” if he was ever eligible for parole.
Handwritten notes from Balentine’s lawyer at the time as well contained a message which read, “Can you spell lynching justifiable?” his appeal attorneys said.
A Texas judge ruled last week that the execution should be delayed for unrelated procedural reasons, but a Texas appeals court reinstated his death sentence on Wednesday.
The State of Texas argued it was too late for the man to raise “highly factual questions.”
Randall Sherrod, one of Balentine’s first lawyers, it The Guardian he did not remember the note and said he always treated his client fairly.
“I think he got a fair trial,” he said. “I think we had a good jury… We tried to help John in any way we could.”
Shawn Nolan, one of Balentine’s appeal lawyers, said the Texas man should have had a chance to have his claims explored before he was executed.
“Racism and racial issues permeated John Balentine’s momentous trial,” he said. it Newsweek Wednesday.
“In light of this highly charged atmosphere, the reluctance of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to address issues of bias and misconduct by the foreman who held racist views and bullied those in favor of sentencing life imprisonment to vote for death, is all the more problematic. .”
The independent and the association Responsible Business for Justice Initiative (RBIJ) launched a joint campaign calling for an end to the death penalty in the United States. The RBIJ has attracted more than 150 well-known signatories to its Statement of Business Leaders Against the Death Penalty – with The Independent as the latest on the list. We join high profile leaders like Ariana Huffington, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson in this initiative and pledge to highlight the injustices of the death penalty in our coverage. .
