NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Nashville judge says a man who has long been on Tennessee's death row will get a new hearing.
The Tennessean reports (http://tnne.ws/2eaC2h2) 65-year-old Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman has been on death row since 1987, when he was convicted of first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of Patrick Daniels. Abdur'Rahman has argued that prosecutors discriminated against African-Americans during jury selection.
Nashville Criminal Court Judge Monte Watkins says the U.S. Supreme Court case Foster v. Chatman potentially created new precedent that warrants an evidentiary hearing for Abdur'Rahman. In the Foster v. Chatman case, justices found that prosecutors struck all four African-American potential jurors based solely on their race.
The U.S. Supreme Court has held for 30 years that lawyers cannot excuse potential jurors solely based on race.
Abdur'Rahman's hearing hasn't been scheduled.