Jimmie Urbano Lucero was already considered guilty of murdering three of his neighbors when the jury foreman opened up Romans 13: 1-6 and read it to the members of the jury, the Christian Science Monitor reports.

Then the jury voted 12-0 to issue Lucero the death penalty.

Lucero’s lawyers appealed the decision based on the Bible reading at the close of the case, saying it harmed his defense and had no evidential bearing on the case.

The Supreme Court declined to review the case, so the Texas court’s decision stands.

Bible reading in the courtroom has been hotly contested between states, according to the article.

Courts in both the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, and the 11th Circuit in Atlanta have ruled that the introduction of a Bible into jury deliberations violates the right to an impartial jury, the right to confrontation, and the right to a fair trial. But courts in the Fourth Circuit in Richmond and the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco have ruled that the presentation of specific Bible verses during jury deliberations does not violate the Sixth Amendment because the Bible’s teachings are a matter of common knowledge in American culture.

An official with the state attorney general said afterward the content of the verse was what mattered, simply calling jurists to fulfill their civic duty. Here’s part of the version the juror read aloud:

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established…. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.

Do you think it was fair to read right before the jury voted?