Washington ? The Supreme Court, normally bitterly divided on capital punishment cases, was unanimous Tuesday in saying a Texas death row inmate who came within minutes of execution should get another chance to appeal his murder conviction.

The court lifted the death sentence imposed on Delma Banks more than two decades ago, and delivered a strong rebuke of Texas officials and lower courts.

Banks was denied a fair trial because prosecutors failed to disclose key information that might have helped Banks’ case, the court said.

“When police or prosecutors conceal significant exculpatory or impeaching material in the state’s possession, it is ordinarily incumbent on the state to set the record straight,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote for herself and six colleagues.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony M. Kennedy, David Souter and Stephen Breyer fully agreed with Ginsburg and voted to lift the death sentence.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia did not vote to overturn Banks’ sentence, but did vote to give him another chance to appeal his conviction for killing a 16-year-old former co-worker at a fast food restaurant in 1980.

Banks, who maintains his innocence, had eaten what was supposed to be his last meal the night of March 12 when the Supreme Court stepped in to stop his execution. Word came with just nine minutes to spare.

In his appeal, Banks claimed Texas authorities sat on evidence, paid off one witness and coached another.

In the high court ruling, Ginsburg said Banks was able to document how prosecutors kept quiet despite mounting legal errors during trial, and how the state hid key witnesses’ links to police through round after round of appeals.

The court’s ruling suggests the justices remain concerned about how capital punishment is carried out in Texas, which leads the nation in executions. Last year, by a vote of 8-1, the court sided with a black Texas death row inmate who claimed prosecutors stacked his jury with whites.