Georgia Executes Man After Evidence Reveals Racist Juror

Imagine being sentenced to the death penalty and days before your execution you get word that your judgement may have been influenced by a racist juror. Your life is on the line, so you immediately request an appeal. However, your motion is disregarded and you’re put to death anyway. You must be thinking, “Oh Hell Nah! We Gonna Have Uh Problem,” but for Kenneth Fults this was reality.

In 1996, Fults broke into the home of his teenage neighbor, Cathy Bounds, with burglary intent, but left a murderer. Despite her cooperation and pleading, Fults still decided to kill Bounds. I forgot to mention that this horrid incident occurred in the state of Georgia. But hold on, the plot thickens. Did I also forget to mention that Fults is a black man and Cathy Bounds is a white woman?
History shows that the south is no stranger to racial prejudice and discrimination, and this presented the perfect opportunity to highlight such. The jury decided to place Fults on death row. However, recently hidden documents revealed that the jury may have been tainted although the selection process is designed to avoid that issue.
In a court sworn affidavit, one of the jurors wrote, “I don’t know if [Fults] ever killed anybody, but that n*gger got just what should have happened. Once he pled guilty, I knew I would vote for the death penalty because that’s what that nigger deserved.” When word of this got back to Fults and his defense team, motion was set to have the death penalty voided; however the motion was ignored and Fults was executed on April 12, 2016 at 7:00PM. Further review also shows that Fults had mental issues, and his defense attorney may have been racist as well. All of this was still disregarded.
The question now becomes, despite the apparent racism, did Fults still deserve the death penalty for committing the crime; or was a lesser sentence more adequate?

Racqui B.