A Black man sentenced to death by the state of Alabama for murdering a sheriff has been granted a new trial by the Eleventh Circuit, which found that the state violated his constitutional right to equal protection by habitually eliminating potential Black jurors from cases like his in a discriminatory manner.

In a split opinion Monday, U.S. Circuit Judge Charles R. Wilson wrote for the majority that Michael Sockwell had his rights violated when Montgomery Assistant District Attorney Ellen Brooks "struck 80% of the qualified Black jurors while striking only 22% of the qualified white jurors." Sockwell was convicted of killing Sheriff Isaiah Harris as part of a 1988 murder-for-hire plot concocted by Harris' adulterous wife Louise, Judge Wilson said.

When examining Brooks' conduct, the majority on the three-judge panel found that she didn't strike two white jurors "for giving vague answers about pretrial publicity," though Brooks used similar answers to eliminate Black potential juror Eric Davis from the jury pool.

The majority also found that Brooks made notes about Davis, writing that he was of the same race and age as Sockwell.

The panel said Brooks had a history of excluding Black jurors for racial reasons and noted that "both the [Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals] and Alabama Supreme Court found several instances of Brooks striking Black jurors in violation of Batson starting in 1988."

Based on the evidence and Brooks' history of discrimination, there was "a substantial likelihood of race-based considerations in the exercise of those strikes" in Sockwell's case, Judge Wilson wrote. He said the practice violated the U.S. Supreme Court's 1986 ruling in Batson v. Kentucky. In that case, the court held that race-based dismissal of jurors violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees equal protection under the law.

Though Sockwell tried to challenge Brooks' jury selection methods at trial and then in appeals to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals and the Alabama Supreme Court, his conviction was affirmed.

However, the majority disagreed with the state high court. "The Alabama Supreme Court's decision was an unreasonable application of Batson and its progeny. No reasonable and fair-minded jurist could have considered 'all relevant circumstances' present here and find no Batson violation," the majority wrote. It ordered the district court to grant Sockwell's habeas petition with the condition that Alabama can try him again.

Michael Rayfield of Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP, who represented Sockwell, said in an email to Law360 on Tuesday that he appreciated the Eleventh Circuit's decision. "Michael has been denied his right to a fair trial for 35 years. We'll continue to fight for his freedom."

Christos Papapetrou of BakerHostetler, who also represented Sockwell, echoed his colleague's sentiments. "Getting to this point has been an incredible team effort over dozens of years — and it's not done yet. Michael's constitutional rights are being violated daily, and that likely won't end until he is released."

In his dissenting opinion, U.S. Circuit Judge Robert J. Luck said a fair judge could have easily thought there was no intentional discrimination against Sockwell, and the Eleventh Circuit was not to interfere with state court decisions "in all but the most 'extreme' cases."

Despite Brooks' actions, "Black jurors made up seventeen percent (rounding up) of the jury, which wasn't far off from the twenty-four percent (rounding up) that made up the jury pool," Judge Luck wrote.

Besides, the Eleventh Circuit had previously decided that there was no race-based violation in at least one other case where a Black potential juror was excluded without reason, Judge Luck wrote.

Tearing into the majority, Judge Luck wrote that every premise of its opinion was "flawed." He also expressed frustration at the idea that Alabama "stripped of deference" would now somehow have to find a way of retrying Sockwell decades after the murder.

"Michael Sockwell blew 'half of' Montgomery County Deputy Sheriff Isaiah Harris's 'face off' with a shotgun as the deputy was driving to his shift at the police station," Judge Luck wrote, adding that Sockwell did it for money and confessed to multiple people.

A jury found Sockwell guilty, recommending a sentence of life in prison via a 7-to-5 vote; however, court records show a judge overrode that recommendation, imposing the death penalty.

Representatives for the state did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

U.S. Circuit Judges Robert J. Luck, Nancy G. Abudu and Charles R. Wilson sat on the panel for the Eleventh Circuit.

Sockwell is represented pro bono by Christos Papapetrou and Deirdre Farrell of BakerHostetler, Michael Rayfield and Melissa Madsen of Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP, Matthew Ingber and Christopher Houpt of Mayer Brown, Shannon L. Holliday and attorneys from the Equal Justice Initiative.

The Alabama Department of Corrections is represented by Beth Jackson Hughes, Henry M. Johnson, Edmund Gerard LaCour Jr. and Robert Overing of the Alabama Attorney General's Office.

The case is Sockwell v. Hamm, case number 23-13321, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

--Editing by Janice Carter Brown.

Correction: A prior version of this story misidentified the firms for two of Sockwell's attorneys. The error has been corrected.