“A black man named Cory Maye is sitting on death row in Mississippi because he heard men trying to break into his home late at night in December of 2001, where he was alone with his 18-month-old baby daughter. Mr. Maye, who had no criminal record, got the child down onto the floor and lay down beside her to protect her. When one of the men finally broke into the bedroom, Cory Maye shot and killed him. The man was hit in the abdomen, just below his bulletproof vest, and died a short time later.

The man who had failed to knock and identify himself before breaking in was a cop, and was really after suspects in the other half of the duplex where Cory Maye lived. The cop was the white son of the white chief of police. An all-white jury sentenced Cory Maye, who is black, to death for exercising his right to defend his locked home and family against violent invasion by an unknown intruder. The all-white jury took only a few hours to do so, at least one juror explaining he wanted to get home for supper.