Court Overturns Death Sentence on Racial Issue
A federal appeals court overturned the death sentence of a black man convicted of killing a white man, saying prosecutors tried to keep blacks off the jury.
The appeals court sent the case back to district court, which could either hear the race claim or order a new trial.
Timothy Allen was convicted by a jury of six whites and six blacks in the 1985 shooting death of Trooper Raymond Worley during a traffic stop near Enfield.
The appeals court said evidence showed prosecutors used peremptory challenges to reject 11 of 13 prospective black jurors.
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