TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The state Supreme Court on Thursday threw out the murder conviction of a black man because his lawyer, who was white, told jurors he often struggled with prejudice against blacks.

Henry A. Davis, 38, was sent to death row after an all-white jury convicted him in 1990 of the murder of Joyce Ezell, a white 73-year-old woman who was stabbed to death.

The justices ruled that Davis was deprived of effective representation because of comments made by his lawyer, Dan Brawley.

Brawley told prospective jurors during jury selection that sometimes he didn't like black people and got mad at them. Brawley returned to the topic during closing arguments, asking jurors to ``be especially vigilant'' that race not be a factor in their deliberations.

``We are greatly disturbed by trial counsel's blatant acknowledgment to the jury, in defending an African-American defendant accused of an interracial crime, of his negative feelings toward 'black people just because they're black,''' Florida's high court wrote in the unsigned opinion.

Brawley declined comment Thursday.

During Davis' appeal, Brawley testified that he made his comments in an effort to get jurors to acknowledge their hidden feelings about race.

Last year, a judge overturned Davis' death sentence and ordered a new sentencing hearing, but upheld the murder conviction.

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