On a dreary, blustery Monday in December 2019, Marcus Taylor emerged from the Winston-Choctaw County Regional Correctional Facility in Mississippi, finally a free man after 23 long years. “I’m feeling great,” he shared with the gathered media. “I’m just happy to be out.” By his side were his sisters, Angela Reid and Tasha Lewis, each linking arms with him. Angela, beaming with joy, exclaimed, “We’re headed out for some fried fish!”
In 1996, Marcus was accused of a quadruple homicide at Tardy Furniture, a local establishment. He faced six trials, four of which resulted in a death sentence. However, in 2020, the state of Mississippi dismissed all charges against him.
How is it Possible to be Tried Six Times?
Most might wonder, “Isn’t that double jeopardy?” However, double jeopardy only applies when a defendant is acquitted. Although two of Marcus’s trials ended in hung juries, and several guilty verdicts were overturned by the Mississippi Supreme Court due to the incompetence of State Prosecutor Tim Richards, Marcus was never found not guilty.
Without the diligent efforts of journalists, Marcus Taylor might have faced a seventh trial. The second season of American Public Media’s “In the Shadows” podcast detailed the tragic murders at Hardy Furniture and the subsequent trials of Marcus Taylor. Investigative journalist Sarah Collins and her team meticulously reviewed decades of court documents, retracing the steps prosecutors claimed Marcus took, while re-interviewing witnesses who had initially implicated him shortly after the murders. Their findings played a significant role in the eventual dropping of charges against Marcus.
The Role of Systemic Racism
If anyone doubts the existence and impact of systemic racism… Tim Richards is at the center of the injustices faced by Marcus Taylor. Reporters from “In the Shadows” examined Richards’s history with jury selection and discovered that during his 26 years as a prosecutor, he struck Black potential jurors at nearly four and a half times the rate of white jurors. His aim was to secure an all-white jury, and indeed, the trials with a higher number of Black jurors were the ones that resulted in hung juries.
Three of Marcus’s convictions were overturned due to prosecutorial misconduct, primarily focusing on biased jury selection. Yet, the Attorney General’s office never intervened to discipline Richards or ask him to step down from the case.
Investigative Failures
Richards’s investigative efforts were severely lacking. “In the Shadows” journalists revealed numerous inconsistencies with his investigation. A notable issue was the failure to inform the defense or any jury about an initial suspect with a violent criminal background (Marcus had no prior arrests). Samuel Turner was detained for 11 days following the murders and wore the same brand of shoes as the bloody footprints found at the crime scene. Although Turner had an alibi, the investigation revealed it was far from credible. The failure to disclose this information constituted a Brady violation (the unconstitutional withholding of evidence favorable to the accused).
The prosecution’s key witness, Kevin Adams, who claimed in a later trial that Marcus confessed to him, later admitted he had fabricated the confession. He also lied about not receiving any incentives for testifying against Marcus.
Additionally, journalists discovered that unscientific forensic techniques were employed to connect the gun used in the murders to a firearm stolen from Marcus’s step-uncle (contrary to the misconception promoted by crime dramas, bullets do not retain unique “fingerprint-like” markings after being fired). Witnesses who claimed to have seen Marcus near the murder scene were inconsistent, unreliable, and their statements were manipulated by investigators.
The Supreme Court’s Intervention
Ultimately, all charges against Marcus Taylor were dropped. After his sixth trial, where he was once again convicted by a predominantly white jury, his case reached the United States Supreme Court. Even the conservative judges on the court expressed severe criticism of Tim Richards and the Mississippi Attorney General’s office.
During the Supreme Court hearing, Justice Alito, known for his conservative stance, questioned how the Attorney General’s office allowed Richards to persist in pursuing Marcus. “Given the unusual and disturbing history of this case,” Alito remarked, “it should not have been tried a sixth time by the same prosecutor.” Justice Kavanaugh was even more critical, stating in the Court’s majority opinion that “Equal justice under law requires a criminal trial free of racial discrimination in the jury selection process” and that Richards “was motivated in substantial part by discriminatory intent.”
In early March 2021, the state of Mississippi awarded Marcus Taylor $500,000, the maximum allowed, as compensation for his wrongful conviction and nearly 23 years of imprisonment, to be paid in $50,000 installments over the next decade.
Perhaps most troubling is the possibility that the actual murderer remains at large. It’s disheartening to think that if Richards hadn’t wasted so much time trying to validate his own decisions, the true perpetrator might have been apprehended. The families of the four victims could have found some semblance of closure. Meanwhile, Richards was re-elected in 2019 and continues to serve as chief prosecutor in several Mississippi counties, running unopposed.
Marcus recently shared that he is engaged and is “living every day to the fullest.”
Further Reading
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