Current:Home > MySupreme Court declines to hear appeal from Mississippi death row inmate -TradeStation
Supreme Court declines to hear appeal from Mississippi death row inmate
View
Date:2025-04-12 18:02:25
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court says it will not consider an appeal from a Mississippi death row inmate who was convicted of killing a high school student by running her over with a car, but the inmate still has a separate appeal underway in a federal district court.
Leslie “Bo” Galloway III, now 41, was convicted in 2010 in Harrison County. Prosecutors said Galloway killed 17-year-old Shakeylia Anderson, of Gulfport, and dumped her body in woods off a state highway.
A witness said Anderson, a Harrison Central High School senior, was last seen getting into Galloway’s car on Dec. 5, 2008. Hunters found her body the next day. Prosecutors said she had been raped, severely burned and run over by a vehicle.
The attorneys representing Galloway in his appeals say he received ineffective legal representation during his trial. Because of that, jurors never heard about his “excruciating life history” that could have led them to give him a life sentence rather than death by lethal injection, said Claudia Van Wyk, staff attorney at the ACLU’s capital punishment project.
“The Mississippi Supreme Court excused the trial attorneys’ failure to do the foundational work of investigation as an ‘alternate strategy’ of ‘humanizing’ Mr. Galloway,” Van Wyk said in a statement Tuesday. “It is disappointing and disheartening to see the Supreme Court refuse to correct this blatant misinterpretation of federal law, which requires attorneys to first conduct sufficient investigation to inform any ‘strategic’ decisions.”
Multiple appeals are common in death penalty cases, and Galloway’s latest was filed in July. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves has given attorneys until next July to respond.
The appeal pending before Reeves raises several points, including that Galloway, who is Black, was convicted and sentenced by an all-white jury. Galloway’s current attorneys say his attorneys during the trial failed to challenge prosecutors for eliminating Black potential jurors at a significantly higher rate than they did white ones.
The U.S. Supreme Court offered no details Monday when it declined to hear an appeal from Galloway. The high declined to hear a separate appeal from him in 2014.
In 2013, the Mississippi Supreme Court upheld Galloway’s conviction and sentence.
Galloway argued in the state courts that he would not have been eligible for the death penalty had it not been for a forensic pathologist’s testimony about Anderson’s sexual assault.
Defense attorneys provided the Mississippi court a document with observations from out-of-state forensic pathologists who said the pathologist who testified gave his opinion but did not mention scientific principles or methodology. The Mississippi Supreme Court said in 2013 that the pathologist’s testimony did not go beyond his expertise.
Galloway’s latest appeal says that the forensic pathologist who testified in his trial used “junk science” and that his trial attorneys did too little to challenge that testimony.
veryGood! (32611)
Related
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- 2 men sentenced to life without parole in downtown Pittsburgh drive-by shooting that killed toddler
- 'We can put this all behind us:' Community relieved after Danelo Cavalcante captured
- Savannah Chrisley Reveals She Went on a Date with Armie Hammer
- The 401(k) millionaires club keeps growing. We'll tell you how to join.
- How Concerns Over EVs are Driving the UAW Towards a Strike
- Hailey and Justin Bieber's 5th Anniversary Tributes Are Sweeter Than Peaches
- 'We can put this all behind us:' Community relieved after Danelo Cavalcante captured
- Tarte Shape Tape Concealer Sells Once Every 4 Seconds: Get 50% Off Before It's Gone
- Scotland player out of Rugby World Cup after slipping on stairs. Not the sport’s first weird injury
Ranking
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- The Constitution's disqualification clause and how it's being used to try to prevent Trump from running for president
- Fire at paper mill property in northern Michigan closes roads, prompts warning to avoid area
- Now's your chance to solve a crossword puzzle with Natasha Lyonne
- The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
- The Real Reason Meghan Markle Hasn't Been Wearing Her Engagement Ring From Prince Harry
- Savannah Chrisley Is Dating Robert Shiver, Whose Wife Allegedly Attempted to Murder Him
- Man accused of killing Purdue University dormitory roommate found fit for trial after hospital stay
Recommendation
Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
A school shooting in Louisiana left 1 dead, 2 hurt. Classes are canceled until Friday.
Police officers arrested after van prisoner was paralyzed seek program to have charges erased
Jalen Hurts, Eagles host Kirk Cousins, Vikings in prime time again in their home opener
Trump issues order to ban transgender troops from serving openly in the military
True-crime junkies can get $2,400 for 24 hours of binge-watching in MagellanTV contest
Debate over 'parental rights' is the latest fight in the education culture wars
Nationals, GM Mike Rizzo agree to multiyear contract extension