⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Fourth Circuit hears Dickerson's challenge to the denial of federal habeas relief in a South Carolina death-penalty case. In 2006, a man was tortured to death in a Charleston-area apartment. A jury convicted Dickerson of murder, kidnapping and sexual assault, and he was sentenced to death in 2009. His state appeals and post-conviction proceedings did not overturn those convictions or the death sentence. The federal district court then rejected his habeas petition, which challenged his imprisonment and sentence under federal law. Dickerson says the prosecutor excluded Black jurors because of their race. Batson is the Supreme Court rule forbidding race-based jury strikes. A central dispute is whether procedural barriers prevent federal review of that discrimination claim and evidence obtained after trial. The lawyers also distinguish a claim against the prosecutor's jury strikes from a claim that Dickerson's defense lawyers handled the objection ineffectively. The appeal separately concerns access to prosecutors' notes about possible promises of leniency to witnesses. David Weiss will seek further review for Dickerson; the state will defend the denial of relief.

William Dickerson v. Joel Anderson (No. 25-0004) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, argued September 16, 2026.