We’ve all heard the
expression, “seventh time’s the charm,” right? Wait – you haven’t? Okay –
neither have I, but apparently it’s a motto that a Mississippi District
Attorney lives by.
On the morning of July
16, 1996 in Winona, Mississippi, Tardy Furniture employees Robert Golden and
Carmen Rigby, as well as the owner, Bertha Tardy, were found in the middle of
the store’s showroom, fatally shot execution style. Another employee, Derrick “Bo
Bo” Stewart died approximately 6 days later from the same type of injury. The
crime scene was discovered by a fellow employee who had been called in to work
just a short time earlier.
While police did an
adequate job at keeping the public from entering the scene, there were various
uninvolved officials that came and went, including the mayor and animal control
officer. Investigators collected bullets, bullet fragments, and .380 caliber
shell casings. They also dusted for prints, interviewed potential witnesses,
and questioned possible suspects. They even made sketches of a bloody footprint
found at the scene and it was determined the print came from a size 10.5 Fila
brand sneaker. It didn’t seem to match any of the police officer’s shoes but no
one could be sure since so many people went through the scene. $287 had been
taken out of the register, and the safe was unlocked but the contents,
untouched.
Shortly after police
arrived on the murder scene, other officers responded to a complaint of a theft
from a vehicle nearby. The caller stated a .380 caliber pistol had been stolen
from his unlocked vehicle. A witness claimed Curtis Flowers was seen near the
vehicle so police interviewed him that afternoon. Curtis had also worked for
Tardy Furniture for a short amount of time and had been fired approximately
2-weeks prior to the murder.
Flowers told
investigators he had been babysitting his girlfriend’s children at the time of
the murders and consented to a gunshot residue test. It was determined that he
had one particle of gun powder on his right thumb. He wore the same size shoe
as the footprint left at the scene, and police found $255 as well an empty Fila
shoebox at the home of his girlfriend. After he was arrested, jailhouse
informants told investigators that Flowers confessed to the murders but then,
each recanted.
To be honest, I’m not
sure if Curtis Flowers committed this crime. There is some pretty strong
circumstantial evidence pointing toward his guilt but there is also plenty of
compelling indicators that he didn’t do it. One problem, as discussed below, is
that the district attorney violated Curtis’ constitutional rights and went
above and beyond to win this case. That is injustice. It’s injustice to the
victim’s families, to Curtis and his family, as well as the Winona
community. If he can prove guilt, he should do so legally and within the
rights of the defendant.
First, even though there
were at least two alternate suspects, the DA did not divulge that information
to defense attorneys. As a matter of fact, one of those suspects was actually
arrested and just happened to be wearing Fila sneakers when he was booked. This
is called a Brady violation. The Brady doctrine requires that the
prosecution turn over all exculpatory evidence to the defendant. Additionally,
in 2001, a rusty .380 gun was located under a house 700 feet from Tardy
Furniture. The weapon was turned over to police but it was never logged into
evidence and officers denied ever seeing the gun. I highly doubt this was an
oversight and could be considered police misconduct.
Therefore, technically,
the murder weapon was never found so ballistics experts couldn’t conduct their
analysis in a controlled environment. They believe the weapon stolen from the
vehicle was the one used in the shootings but they can’t be 100% sure. Either
way, it also can’t be proven that it was Curtis who stole the gun in the first
place.
Further, some theorize
that the crime had to have been carried out by more than one perpetrator since
it was an execution type killing. Normally, victims will attempt to flee if
there aren’t additional people to control them. There were similar crimes with
execution style killings in Alabama in 1996 and one of those perpetrators wore
Fila brand sneakers. One man convicted of the Alabama crimes stated that two of
his accomplices were in Mississippi at the time of the Tardy Furniture murders.
Curtis Flowers has
already been tried SIX times for this same crime. Six times. All by the same
DA, Doug Evans. The first trial was solely for the murder of Bertha Tardy and
the second, for only Derrick Stewart. Curtis Flowers was convicted at both
trials and sentenced to death for both. It was later determined that the court
improperly allowed evidence regarding crimes not on trial to be admitted. In
other words, the DA mentioned the other three murders at each of his first and
second trials, which is not allowed. Something to be noted: Trial one consisted
of an all-white jury while trial two had 11 white jurors and one black juror.
Both of these
convictions were overturned, and he was tried a third time - this time for all
four murders together. Again, the jury consisted of a ratio of 11 white jurors
to one black juror. Curtis was again found guilty and sentenced to death but
this time, the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned the conviction due to
Prosecutor Evans striking potential jurors strictly because of race. Each
attorney has the opportunity to “strike” jurors without giving a reason,
however that reason cannot be due to race. In this case, each of the 15 jurors
struck by the prosecution were black. In fact, Doug Evan’s has used his strikes
4.5 times more often on black citizens than on white.
Trial four ended in a
mistrial due to hung jury. The make-up of jurors was more equal but out of the
11 strikes used by the prosecution, all 11 were black. The seven white jurors
voted guilty while five black members voted for acquittal. The fifth trial was
made up of a 9-3 ratio but the statistics for juror strikes are not available. They
voted 11 to one to convict. The lone holdout refused to change his vote
resulting in another hung jury and the judge ordered his arrest for a perjury
charge that was later dismissed.
The sixth, and most
recent trial also ended in a conviction and a death sentence. The jury was
again 11 white members and one seated black juror. During voir dire (the
questioning of jurors by counsel or a judge), the district attorney asked black
potential jurors an average of 29 questions while he asked white potential jurors
an average of one each. In all, the district attorney struck five of the six
black potential jurors for this sixth trial.
So, where is the justice
in this? This case has been going on for 23 years. Each time, the victim’s
families have to relive the loss of their loved ones. Curtis Flowers and his
family have been riding a roller coaster of injustice as well. People who think
Flowers is guilty are disgusted that he continues to appeal. Those who believe
in his innocence are enraged that the state continues to try him. Honestly, I’m
not sure which side I fall on, but I do know that the man is not receiving fair
and impartial trials.
I hadn’t planned on
writing about this case quite yet but on June 21, 2019, the US Supreme Court
once again overturned Curtis Flowers’ conviction in a 7-2 decision that the
state violated the Constitution. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the majority
opinion stating the prosecutor “displayed a pattern of racial bias,” using a
total of 41 out of 42 total peremptory strikes throughout this process to
block African American potential jurors, including five out of six in just the
last trial. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the dissent.
All citizens have the
right to a fair and impartial trial; to be judged by our peers. Fair and
impartial means no cheating allowed. Our judicial system is an adversarial one.
One side against the other. Many times, the prosecution will get tunnel vision and
fight to prove the guilt of the defendant rather than trying to convict the
right defendant. Curtis Flowers maintains his innocence. If the prosecution
“knows” he’s guilty, then why can’t they prove it without breaking the rules
and violating the defendant’s constitutional rights?
Now, it’s up to District
Attorney Doug Evans to decide if he will try Curtis Flowers a seventh time.
Seventh time’s the charm, right? But when should a district attorney step away?
When does the fight become so personal that someone else comes in and says
enough?
To learn more about this
case, please check out these additional resources:
The latest US Supreme
Court decision: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/17-9572_k536.pdf
About the found gun: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/08/02/curtis-flowers-innocent-pathologist-thinks-multiple-killers-behind-quadruple-murder/813262002/
Please listen to In The
Dark Podcast, Season 2: https://www.apmreports.org/in-the-dark/season-two
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