The American state of Texas is expected to proceed tonight with the execution of a death row inmate, who, thirty years ago, killed two brothers at their home.
Unless the US Supreme Court issues a last-minute suspended sentence to 57-year-old Rick Roands, A lethal injection will be given at night local time at the Huntsville Penitentiary.
A rogue burglar, Rhodes had already served a prison sentence when on September 13, 1991, having just been released on parole, he broke into Charles Allen’s home, where Bradley’s brother was also staying, on the outskirts of Houston.
According to the penitentiary authorities, he killed the two brothers while they were sleeping, before stealing money.
He was arrested a month later, during a school burglary. While in custody, he confessed to the double murder, claiming that he reacted during a fight with Charles Allen, which had even started outside the house.
He was sentenced in 1992 to life in prison after a trial in Harris County.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, this county has carried out 129 executions since the 1970s, more than any other county in the United States.
His lawyers tried to prevent his name from being added to this macabre list, questioning the composition of the jury that convicted him.
Rick Roaches is white and his victims were white, but his lawyers are trying to prove that prosecutors barred black jurors during his trial, which is prohibited and invalidates the sentence.
To do so, they went to court to gain access to copies of questionnaires completed by potential jurors thirty years ago. They lost the trial in the first instance and in the court of appeal and appealed to the US Supreme Court.
Tonight, the Supreme Court will decide whether to accept the suspension of execution to examine the substance of the case.
If the verdict is negative, Roaches will be the sixth person sentenced to death to be executed since the beginning of the year in the USA.
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