⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Fourth Circuit considers North Carolina's appeal from an order granting Jason Hurst relief from a death sentence. Hurst was convicted of murder for a fatal shooting in two thousand two and sentenced to death. During the sentencing phase, a juror consulted her father, a minister, about biblical passages concerning punishment for murder. Hurst challenged the outside contact through federal habeas corpus, a process for challenging state custody as contrary to federal law. After an evidentiary hearing, a federal judge conditionally vacated the death sentence. This appeal concerns sentencing, not whether Hurst committed the murder. The question is whether the conversation had a substantial and harmful influence on the jury's sentencing decision. You'll hear the phrase grave doubt: if the court is essentially evenly balanced about whether a constitutional trial error had that effect, the error must be treated as harmful. North Carolina will argue that the evidence does not establish that harm; Hurst will ask the court to uphold relief.

Jason Hurst v. Leslie Cooley-Dismukes (No. 25-0005) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, argued October 29, 2026.