Juries

3rd Circuit Voids Death Penalty in Abu-Jamal Case

In the latest appellate court ruling in a controversial and long-running capital case that appears almost certain to continue further, a federal appeals court today voided the death penalty given in 1982 to a black activist whose supporters say he was convicted in a racist trial. However, the 3rd U.S.…

Mar 27, 2008 11:27 PM CDT

Supreme Court’s Juror Ruling Reinforces Batson’s Bar on Bias

The U.S. Supreme Court issued an important decision yesterday emphasizing the importance of eliminating racial bias in jury selection, according to the lawyer for a black murder defendant who won a retrial in the case. The high court ruled a trial court erred when it allowed a prosecutor to remove…

Mar 20, 2008 12:01 PM CDT

Supreme Court Rules Prosecutor’s Exclusion of Black Juror Was Improper

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled a trial court erred when it allowed a prosecutor to remove a black juror partly on the ground that he appeared nervous. The prosecutor, Jim Williams, had cited nervousness and the juror’s obligations as a student teacher when he exercised a peremptory challenge to…

Mar 19, 2008 3:03 PM CDT

Sidewalk Summonses

Forget free samples and coupons. On Jan. 9, shoppers at the Price Chopper supermarket in St. Johnsbury, Vt., got something they really couldn’t refuse—a jury summons, effective immediately.

Mar 1, 2008 6:33 AM CST

Federal Judge Loses Escalator Injury Suit, Lawyer Cites Bias

The lawyer for a federal judge who lost a $21 million lawsuit for an escalator injury is blaming bias against the judiciary for the verdict. California jurors deliberated only two hours before ruling against U.S. District Judge George Schiavelli of Los Angeles, who said he was injured when a shopping…

Feb 26, 2008 2:29 PM CST

Supreme Court to Review Ruling on Harmless Error in Jury Instructions

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether an erroneous jury instruction about a theory of guilt requires a federal court to reverse a murder conviction, SCOTUSblog reports. The defendant in Chrones v. Pulido claimed the jury instruction allowed a jury to convict him as an accomplice in the…

Feb 25, 2008 4:36 PM CST

Vote to End Jury Deadlock May Cost Attorney His Law License

A San Francisco attorney is facing potential disbarment because while serving on a jury in 2004, he reportedly cast the deciding vote to end a deadlock simply so that he could return to his law practice. Earlier this month, a State Bar Court judge in California recommended that Francis Fahy…

Feb 19, 2008 4:02 PM CST

Grand Jurors Sue for OK to Talk About Texas Supreme Court Justice’s Case

In a highly unusual move, six members of a 12-person grand jury that indicted a Texas Supreme Court justice are suing the county prosecutor and the state for permission to talk about the evidence they considered in the controversial case. Ordinarily, grand jury proceedings are secret. But the grand jurors…

Feb 14, 2008 7:07 PM CST

Jury Duty Scam May Put Postal Worker in Prison

When a postal worker in Washington, D.C., had to serve on a jury in an extended federal trial, the government paid him his usual salary. But there were days that the jury was excused, and Joseph Winstead never reported to his job as a mail processor, yet was still paid.…

Feb 14, 2008 5:01 PM CST

Kansas Supreme Court Halts Release of Abortion Records

The Kansas Supreme Court is barring release of records of abortion patients until it considers a motion to quash grand-jury subpoeanas for the documents. A grand jury has subpoenaed medical files of about 2,000 women as it investigates whether a late-term abortion provider has broken state laws regulating the procedure,…

Feb 6, 2008 12:37 PM CST

Historians Seek Grand Jury Transcripts in Rosenberg Spy Case

The sons of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are supporting a group of historians seeking release of transcripts from the grand jury investigation into the couple’s spying for the Soviet Union. The National Security Archive filed the petition (PDF) for the transcripts in an effort to uncover more information about the…

Feb 1, 2008 3:31 PM CST

Oregon’s High Court Re-Reaffirms $79M Philip Morris Verdict

For the third time, Oregon’s high court has upheld a $79.5 million punitive-damages verdict against Philip Morris after the case was twice kicked back to them from the U.S. Supreme Court. Central to arguments in the case are jury instructions. The Oregon court has ruled that jury instructions proposed by…

Jan 31, 2008 10:12 PM CST

Texas Bar Awards Three $2,500 Prizes in 10-Entry Video Contest

The odds of winning the State Bar of Texas’ YouTube video contest were fairly good. The bar got 10 entries and awarded three prizes of $2,500 each. The bar required the videos to be less than three minutes in length, on the topic of the importance and value of the…

Jan 25, 2008 4:14 PM CST

Judge Sends Combative Grand Jurors Home; Voids Indictments

A Texas judge has dismissed a grand jury that indicted Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina and his wife over the objection of prosecutors. Judge Jim Wallace ruled the district attorney’s office had made procedural errors when it extended the grand jury’s term last November, invalidating all the indictments issued…

Jan 23, 2008 12:05 PM CST

Colo. Pedestrians Nabbed for Jury Duty

A number of pedestrians in Greeley, Colo., were stunned yesterday to be handed documents requiring them to report immediately for jury duty as they were out and about, attending to their own affairs. After only 40 of the 200 people summoned for jury duty by mail showed up in court,…

Jan 18, 2008 12:17 AM CST