When Stephen Bright stepped to the U.S. Supreme Court's lectern on Monday morning, the wall clock high above the justices' mahogany bench said it was a few minutes after six o'clock.
Except it was really about 10:05 a.m. The clocks in the majestic courtroom weren't working. Not only that, the ensuing arguments didn't go exactly as expected.
Credit: Bill Rankin
Credit: Bill Rankin
The justices heard an appeal from Bright's client, Timothy Tyrone Foster, who sits on death row for sexually assaulting and then killing a 79-year-old retired school teacher in her Floyd County home almost three decades ago. At issue in Foster's appeal was whether prosecutors struck all the prospective black jurors from the case because of their race.
This was AJC reporter Bill Rankin's fourth time covering arguments before the high court. To read his first-person account, please go to this story on myajc.com.
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