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By Brooke Sopelsa and Associated Press
The Supreme Court again rejects the appeal of a death row inmate who alleged that South Dakota juries had been biased against him on the basis of his sexual orientation.
The judges did not comment on Monday leaving in place the death sentence passed on Charles Rhines.
Rhines was convicted of the knifed murder of Donnivan Schaeffer, 22, during the robbery of a donut shop in Rapid City in March 1992. A jury found Rhines guilty in 1993 and the court Supreme State confirmed its conviction and conviction in 1996.
His appeal followed the Supreme Court's 2017 ruling that evidence of racial bias in the jury room allowed a judge to consider rescinding a verdict.
According to court documents included in the Rhines appeal, several jurors commented on Rhines' sexuality and its impact on their decision to recommend the death penalty instead of life without the possibility of parole.
Jury Harry Kenney, in an affidavit, said the jurors knew that Rhines "was a homosexual and felt that he should not be able to spend his life with men in jail."
Jury Bennett Blake, according to court documents, said that there had been "a lot of talk about homosexuality" among the jurors and "a lot of disgust".
The juror Frances Cerosimo recalled in an affidavit of 2016 that another juror, whom she had not named, said: "If he is gay, we will send him where he wants to go if we vote for "life without the possibility of parole.
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit racial justice legal group that filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to hear the Rhines case, issued a statement criticizing the decision of the High Court, claiming that "discrimination based on sexual orientation does not have Justice."
"Leaving the death sentence against Charles Rhines is contrary to constitutional protections and breaking with Supreme Court case law," said Daniel Harawa, senior counsel at LDF. "The Supreme Court is particularly empowered to eliminate discrimination from the jury system, and this disappointing decision undermines public confidence in the administration of justice and the rule of law."
The Supreme Court justices rejected a similar call from Rhines last year.
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