The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review the appeal of Leslie Bo Galloway III, a Mississippi death row inmate convicted of murdering 17-year-old Shakeylia Anderson in 2008. Galloway, 41, was sentenced to death in 2010 after being found guilty of running over Anderson with his car, sexually assaulting her, and then disposing of her body.
Galloway’s attorneys argue that he received ineffective legal representation during his trial, which they claim prevented the jury from hearing critical details about his troubled background that might have influenced their sentencing decision. Claudia Van Wyk, a staff attorney at the ACLU’s capital punishment project, expressed disappointment in the Supreme Court’s refusal to address what she calls a misinterpretation of federal law regarding adequate legal representation. She emphasized that the trial attorneys failed to conduct a thorough investigation that could have informed their defense strategy.
Galloway’s case is notable for the racial dynamics involved; he was convicted by an all-white jury, and his current legal team contends that his trial lawyers did not adequately challenge the prosecution’s practice of dismissing Black jurors at a higher rate than white jurors. This point is included in Galloway’s pending appeal before U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves, who has set a deadline for responses until next July.
In previous legal proceedings, the Mississippi Supreme Court upheld Galloway’s conviction and sentenced him, rejecting arguments about the reliability of the forensic testimony used against him. Galloway’s latest appeal claims that the testimony relied on “junk science” and that his trial attorneys inadequately challenged it.
Multiple appeals are common in death penalty cases, and while the Supreme Court has declined to hear Galloway’s appeal this time, he still has ongoing legal proceedings in federal court.