A North Carolina judge has ruled that racial bias tainted jury selection and sentencing in the trial of a Black inmate who was sentenced to death in 2009.

Judge ruled prosecutors unlawfully dismissed Black jurors in Hasson Bacote's death penalty case and used racist language like "thug" and "predators of the African plain."

A North Carolina judge ruled Friday that a Black defendant’s capital trial was undermined by allegations of racial bias during jury selection, potentially opening the door to death row inmates throughout the state getting resentenced.