South Dakota man sentenced to death because he’s gay, civil rights group argue

Civil rights organizations filed a brief Thursday in support of a South Dakota man on death row, arguing he was given the death penalty because he’s gay.

Six organizations are urging the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to grant Charles Russell Rhines’ appeal after the Supreme Court ruled last year that trial courts must consider evidence of racial bias from jurors.

They said the same should be true for anti-LGBT bias.

“Evidence suggests that he has been on death row for the past 25 years because he is a gay man,” said Ethan Rice, an attorney for Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ advocacy group. “The constitutional right to a fair trial must include the right to establish whether a verdict or sentence was imposed due to jury bias.”

Rhines was convicted in 1993 of stabbing a man to death during a robbery at a doughnut shop.

During Rhines’ trial, jurors sent the judge questions about whether Rhines would be able to marry or have conjugal visits if he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

According to Rhines’ request for an appeal, jurors have come forward, saying there had been “lots of discussion of homosexuality” and “a lot of disgust” during the deliberations.

One juror said the jury “knew that he was a homosexual and thought that he shouldn’t be able to spend his life with men in prison.”

Another juror allegedly said sending Rhines to live in prison with other men “would be sending him where he wants to go.”

“Like race-based bias, unchecked anti-gay bias causes systemic harm to the justice system and, in particular, capital jury sentencing. Prejudice based on sexual orientation is just as long-standing and deeply rooted,” Rhines’ attorney argued in his court filing.