The US Supreme Court is again rejecting a gay death row inmate's appeal that claims jurors in South Dakota were biased against him because of his sexual orientation.
The Supreme Court is again rejecting a gay death row inmate's appeal that claims jurors in South Dakota were biased against him because of his sexual orientation.South Dakota death row inmate Charles Russell Rhines is shown in this 1990s photo in Rapid City, South Dakota.Rhines was convicted in the stabbing death of Donnivan Schaeffer, 22, while burglarizing a Rapid City doughnut shop in March 1992.
His appeal followed the Supreme Court’s 2017 ruling that evidence of racial bias in the jury room allows a judge to consider setting aside a verdict., several jurors made comments about Rhines’ sexuality and its impact on their decision to recommend the death penalty in lieu of life without the possibility of parole.
Juror Harry Kenney, in a sworn statement, said the jurors knew that Rhines"was a homosexual and thought the he shouldn’t be able to spend his life with men in prison.” Juror Bennett Blake, according to court documents, said there was “lots of discussion of homosexuality” among the jurors and “a lot of disgust.”
Juror Frances Cerosimo recalled in a 2016 sworn statement that another juror, whom she did not name, said, “if he’s gay, we’d be sending him where he wants to go if we voted for" life without the possibility of parole.
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