Even if Curtis Flowers wins, there is one constant in the case: District Attorney Doug Evans, the prosecutor. Wednesday’s oral argument heard by justices was about whether Evans discriminated against black jurors in Flowers’ 2010 trial. Four people were killed at Tardy Furniture in 1996, and Flowers was found guilty by jurors. Many legal experts believe that the Supreme Court will support Flowers, who has spent the majority of the past two decades in death row at Parchman’s state prison. Evans prosecuted all six Flowers cases and was convicted in three of them. All three cases were dismissed, with two being for misconduct in prosecutorial. In two other trials, jurors failed to reach unanimous verdicts. Flowers’ lawyers argued in his appeal that the court should overturn the recent conviction due to racial bias in jury selection. However, the state argued Evans struck potential jurors because he was related to or worked with members of the Flowers family. Justice Samuel Alito asked at one point Wednesday: Could the state attorney general have taken over the prosecution of this case, moving it to another venue, “where so many people aren’t so close together?” According to Jason Davis, Special Assistant Attorney General, the state’s attorney general, the attorney general cannot assist or take over a case unless the district attorney requests it. According to Matt Steffey (a Mississippi College law professor), this is because the attorney general of Mississippi and Mississippi’s district lawyers are elected to represent different jurisdictions. The federal system has U.S. lawyers working under the supervision of the attorney general. However, the Mississippi system divides the responsibilities between the attorney general (a statewide official) and the district attorneys who are elected by the district. The state law does not allow the AG or any other official to assume the role of a local prosecutor. This ruling was made by the state supreme Court. Evans will have the authority to decide whether or not to prosecute Flowers if he is granted a seventh trial. Davis, the attorney general’s official, told justices Wednesday that they were not asked if Evans had previously requested the AG to prosecute the case. Evans, a long-serving prosecutor, has represented seven counties in northern Illinois since 1992. He has never faced a challenger during his tenure. Evans is unopposed this year. Evans’ repeated prosecutions of Flowers have become a well-known case in recent years. APM Reports discovered last year that Evans had historically struck black potential jurors at 4.4 times the rate he struck white jurors. Steffey stated that this incident highlights the importance of a prosecutor being as ethical as possible. Scott Colom is the District Attorney for the district east of Evans’, north Mississippi. He believes that prosecutors should always be open to the possibility of withdrawing from any public criticism of their motivations in prosecuting cases. Colom said that he has already passed cases involving officer involvement shootings and cases where a relative was the victim of crime to the AG’s Office in his first term. Colom stated that every prosecutor should examine whether there are overwhelming allegations of misconduct and how to handle it. Colom doesn’t believe the attorney general should have the right to take over cases from district lawyers without approval. The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that the attorney general’s office could not replace the district attorney’s offices in a prosecution. Hinds County DA Robert Shuler Smith decided to end the prosecution of a defendant in that case. Two days later, a judge requested to transfer the case over to Attorney General Jim Hood. The decision was not unanimously made by the state’s highest court. It has been rearranged and the composition of the court has changed. Law professor Steffey also points out that nothing in state law is ever finalized. It is possible for the state to pass a statute that would change the relationship between the AG’s and the district attorneys’ offices. The state Constitution can still have amendments. Evans stated to reporters at APM Reports that he doesn’t believe the Supreme Court will overturn Flowers’ conviction. Even if justices did, Evans said that Flowers might be prosecuted for the seventh consecutive time. Evans said that Flowers’ case was as strong as ever from the beginning, and even if justices did reverse Flowers’ conviction, he might prosecute Flowers for the seventh time.