更新于：2026年3月3日 / 美国东部时间上午8:39 / CBS/美联社
美国最高法院为阿拉巴马州在死囚牢房关押时间最长的囚犯之一开启了重审的可能。周一，最高法院驳回了该州对今年夏天下级法院裁决的上诉，该裁决认定原案检察官故意排除黑人陪审员，侵犯了囚犯的权利。
最高法院驳回美国第十一巡回上诉法院今年夏天的裁决，这一决定可能使63岁的迈克尔·索克韦尔（Michael Sockwell）获得重审机会。他自1990年起一直在阿拉巴马州死囚牢房服刑。
“我们感谢最高法院的裁决。35多年来，迈克尔一直被剥夺获得公正审判的权利。我们将继续为他的自由而战，”索克韦尔的律师之一迈克尔·雷菲尔德（Michael Rayfield）在一份声明中表示。
索克韦尔于1990年被定罪，罪名是杀害蒙哥马利县治安官副手以赛亚·哈里斯（Isaiah Harris）。1988年，哈里斯在上班途中面部中枪，检察官称这是一起由哈里斯妻子安排的雇凶杀人案。
上诉法院在6月以2比1的投票结果裁定，阿拉巴马州检察官故意排除可能对索克韦尔更为同情的黑人潜在陪审员，违反了索克韦尔根据《宪法第十四修正案》享有的权利。
迈克尔·索克韦尔。阿拉巴马州惩教部通过美联社提供
据CBS附属机构WHNT报道，撰写该裁决意见的查尔斯·威尔逊法官表示，阿拉巴马州检察官在索克韦尔案中“反复且故意地”排除了合格的黑人陪审员。威尔逊援引了蒙哥马利县助理地方检察官艾伦·布鲁克斯（Ellen Brooks）排除一名黑人潜在陪审员的记录。
阿拉巴马州总检察长办公室曾请求对该裁决进行复审，但最高法院驳回了其上诉请求。
一名联邦法官在11月表示，检察官必须在3月18日前采取措施重新审判，否则索克韦尔应获释。蒙哥马利县地方检察官办公室一位女发言人周一表示，该办公室打算重新审理此案，但拒绝进一步置评。
定罪索克韦尔的陪审团以7比5的投票结果建议判处其终身监禁，但一名法官推翻了这一建议，判处其死刑。阿拉巴马州现已不再允许法官在死刑案件中推翻陪审团的量刑决定。
哈里斯的妻子被认定犯有谋杀罪；她最初被判处死刑，但后来减为终身监禁。
Supreme Court decision paves way for new trial for Alabama man on death row since 1990
Updated on: March 3, 2026 / 8:39 AM EST / CBS/AP
The U.S. Supreme Court has paved the way for one of Alabama’s longest-serving death row inmates to receive a new trial. On Monday, the court declined to review the state’s appeal of a lower court ruling over the summer, which found that prosecutors in the original case violated the inmate’s rights by intentionally rejecting Black jurors.
The decision to reject the summer ruling from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could allow Michael Sockwell, 63, to receive a new trial. He has been on Alabama’s death row since 1990.
“We appreciate the Supreme Court’s decision. Michael has been denied his right to a fair trial for more than 35 years. We’ll continue to fight for his freedom,” Michael Rayfield, one of Sockwell’s lawyers, said in a statement.
Sockwell was convicted in 1990 of killing Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputy Isaiah Harris. Harris was shot in the face in 1988 on his way to work in what prosecutors described as a murder-for-hire arranged by Harris’ wife.
The appellate court in June issued a 2-1 opinion finding Alabama prosecutors violated Sockwell’s 14th Amendment rights by intentionally rejecting potential Black jurors believed to be more sympathetic to him.
Michael Sockwell. Alabama Department of Corrections via AP
Judge Charles Wilson, who wrote the opinion, said Alabama prosecutors “repeatedly and purposefully” rejected qualified Black jurors in Sockwell’s case, CBS affiliate WHNT reported. Wilson cited records of Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Ellen Brooks striking a potential juror who was a Black man, according to the news station.
The Alabama Attorney General’s Office sought a review of that decision but the petition was rejected by the Supreme Court.
A federal judge in November said prosecutors must take steps by March 18 to pursue a new trial or Sockwell should be released from prison. A spokeswoman for the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office said Monday that the office intends to retry the case but declined additional comment.
The jury that convicted Sockwell voted 7-5 to recommend that he receive life imprisonment, but a judge overrode that recommendation and handed down a death sentence. Alabama no longer allows judges to override a jury’s sentence decision in capital cases.
Harris’ wife was convicted of capital murder; she was initially sentenced to death but that was later reduced to life in prison.
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