Expert’s Racist Remarks Get Black Death-Row Inmate New Sentence

A Black death-row inmate’s constitutional rights were violated during the sentencing phase of his trial when his attorneys allowed his expert witness to testify that Black men with his psychological disorder should be thrown away or locked up, the Sixth Circuit said.

The racially tainted comment was unconstitutional on its face, the opinion by Judge Richard Allen Griffin said Monday.

Odraye Jones was convicted in state court for the 1997 murder of Ashtabula, Ohio, police officer William Glover. During the sentencing phase of his trial, Jones’ lawyers called clinical psychologist James Eisenberg, who concluded that Jones had antisocial personality disorder. ...