FILE - In this Oct. 16, 2014, file photo, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Ron Castille stands outside the new Philadelphia Family Court building in Philadelphia. The Supreme Court is hearing an appeal Monday, Feb. 29, 2016, from a Pennsylvania death-row inmate over when a judge must step aside from a case. Inmate Terrance âTerryâ Williams says then-Chief Justice Castille of Pennsylvania Supreme Court should not have taken part in Williamsâ case. Castille signed off on Williamsâ death penalty prosecution while serving as Philadelphiaâs district attorney in the 1980s. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Pennsylvania death row inmate has a simple challenge for the U.S. Supreme Court: The same person shouldn't be both his prosecutor and judge.
Yet inmate Terrance "Terry" Williams says that's exactly what happened to him.
Williams says then-Philadelphia District Attorney Ronald Castille signed off on the death penalty prosecution in 1986 and then voted on Williams' appeal as chief justice of the state Supreme Court in 2014.
The court reinstated Williams' death sentence, reversing a judge who'd found that Castille's prosecutors hid evidence in the case.
The case goes before the nation's highest court on Monday. Castille says he's confident he was fair and impartial.
Williams' lawyers call Castille's dual role an outrage.
Eight justices are hearing the case. Justice Antonin Scalia died earlier this month.
FILE - This undated Pennsylvania Department of Corrections file photo shows Terrance Williams who is on death row for fatally beating Amos Norwood in 1984, in Philadelphia. The Supreme Court is hearing an appeal Monday, Feb. 29, 2016 from a Pennsylvania death-row inmate over when a judge must step aside from a case. Williams says then-Chief Justice Ronald Castille of Pennsylvania Supreme Court should not have taken part in Williamsâ case. Castille signed off on Williamsâ death penalty prosecution while serving as Philadelphiaâs district attorney in the 1980s. (Pennsylvania Department of Corrections via AP, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - This Feb. 17, 2016, file photo shows the Supreme Court building in Washington. The Supreme Court is hearing an appeal Monday, Feb. 29, from a Pennsylvania death-row inmate over when a judge must step aside from a case. Inmate Terrance âTerryâ Williams says then-Chief Justice Ronald Castille of Pennsylvania Supreme Court should not have taken part in Williamsâ case. Castille signed off on Williamsâ death penalty prosecution while serving as Philadelphiaâs district attorney in the 1980s. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
The Associated Press