Georgia set to execute man even after juror admits bias against ‘n*ggers’
On Wednesday, the state of Georgia scheduled the execution of Keith Leroy Tharpe for September 26.
The 59-year-old was convicted of murder his sister-in-law, Jaquelin Freeman, in 1990 by shooting her three times. She was driving to work with his estranged wife at the time when he stopped them. He later kidnapped his estranged wife and raped her.
Tharpe was caught after driving his estranged wife to withdraw funds from the bank. Instead of drawing funds, she called police, who arrested Tharpe.
Tharpe is set to be the second person to be executed by the state of Georgia in 2017, as compared to a record nine executions last year.
— ‘Reclaiming My Time’ song has become a suicide prevention anthem —
The execution is still going forward despite accusations of racial bias. One of the jurors reportedly admitted that he voted for execution because Tharpe is black.
The juror reportedly said that African-Americas were either “good black folks” or “n…..s.” And in this case, Freeman’s family was “nice black folks.”
He claimed that if Freeman’s family “had been the type Tharpe is, then picking between life or death for Tharpe wouldn’t have mattered as much.”
Georgia law prohibits juror testimony from being used to overturn a verdict, but the Supreme Court recently ruled that it can be used if there is proof of racial bias affecting a verdict.
Georgia plans to execute Keith Tharpe on 9/26. A juror in the case used the "n-word" and said he voted for death because Keith is black.
— Sister Helen Prejean (@helenprejean) September 10, 2017
