30-Year Texas Death Row Inmate Gets 3rd Trial; Blacks Excluded from Jury

Twice convicted and sentenced to death in a 1978 rape-murder, based on eyewitness testimony and a claimed confession to a cellmate, Jonathan Bruce Reed has just won a third trial after serving nearly 30 years on death row in Texas.

Because prosecutors improperly excluded blacks from the jury, fearing that they would sympathize with Reed even though he is white, he must be retried or released, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled (PDF). The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals previously upheld Reed's second conviction, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a further appeal, reports the Associated Press.

Reed, who is now 57, had previously served time for burglary and auto theft and was on parole, when he allegedly attacked a Dallas woman and her roommate after posing as a maintenance man, the Star-Telegram reported. One victim died, but the other survived and identified Reed as her attacker.