The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit has rejected an appeal filed on behalf of North Carolina death row inmate Kenneth Rouse. Without disputing the merits of his claim, the court ruled that it would not hear the case because the motion was filed one day after an appeal deadline established by a 1996 federal law. In its ruling, the court wrote that the fact that Rouse faces the death penalty is no reason to give leeway in meeting the federal deadline. Rouse’s attorneys are requesting a new trial because a juror in Rouse’s case failed to disclose that his own mother had been murdered and sexually assaulted. The attorneys note that the juror, who is white, also used a racial epithet to describe Rouse, who is black, and that the juror expressed racist attitudes. (The Herald Sun, August 11, 2003). The dissent in the case noted that the juror carefully crafted his responses to voir dire questions because he wanted to be on the jury that judged Rouse. See Race.