Non-Unanimous Jury
Did you know this about The Beaver State?
Oregon is the only state to allow non-unanimous jury verdicts after Louisiana voters struck down its non-unanimous jury system in 2018. Split verdicts of 10-to-2 and 11-to-1 are allowed in Oregon on all felony cases except for murder and aggravated murder.
(https://www.registerguard.com/news/20200420/us-supreme-court-finds-oregons-nonunanimous-jury-verdicts-unconstitutional)
As mentioned above, Louisiana also had this same type of system up until just a couple years ago.
I was shocked to learn this. Had absolutely no clue.
Well, this week, the Supreme Court made a HUGGGGGGE ruling.
The Supreme Court said Monday that unanimous jury verdicts are required in state criminal trials for serious offenses, handing a victory to criminal defendants including petitioner Evangelisto Ramos, who was convicted of murder in Louisiana on a 10-2 vote.
Justice Neil Gorsuch penned the opinion and was joined in key parts by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer and Brett Kavanaugh.
"We took this case to decide whether the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial -- as incorporated against the States by way of the Fourteenth Amendment -- requires a unanimous verdict to convict a defendant of a serious offense," Gorsuch wrote.
"One of these requirements was unanimity," he said, "a jury must reach a unanimous verdict in order to convict."
"The answer is unmistakable," he said.
(https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/20/politics/scotus-jury-verdict-criminal-trial/index.html)
"unmistakable": YES!
Why in the world would we not have uniform rules for jury trials across all 50 states?
Mr. Ramos was convicted in 2014 on a 10-2 vote. As such, he will get a new trial.
As will countless others who were sentenced to prison on less-than-unanimous jury votes.
Not just in Louisiana...... but also in Oregon.
Hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of cases will need to be re-tried in court.
Think of the impact on the court system.
And on the impacted families.
Grace & Peace & Love to you all -
Matt
Oregon is the only state to allow non-unanimous jury verdicts after Louisiana voters struck down its non-unanimous jury system in 2018. Split verdicts of 10-to-2 and 11-to-1 are allowed in Oregon on all felony cases except for murder and aggravated murder.
(https://www.registerguard.com/news/20200420/us-supreme-court-finds-oregons-nonunanimous-jury-verdicts-unconstitutional)
As mentioned above, Louisiana also had this same type of system up until just a couple years ago.
I was shocked to learn this. Had absolutely no clue.
Well, this week, the Supreme Court made a HUGGGGGGE ruling.
The Supreme Court said Monday that unanimous jury verdicts are required in state criminal trials for serious offenses, handing a victory to criminal defendants including petitioner Evangelisto Ramos, who was convicted of murder in Louisiana on a 10-2 vote.
Justice Neil Gorsuch penned the opinion and was joined in key parts by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer and Brett Kavanaugh.
"We took this case to decide whether the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial -- as incorporated against the States by way of the Fourteenth Amendment -- requires a unanimous verdict to convict a defendant of a serious offense," Gorsuch wrote.
"One of these requirements was unanimity," he said, "a jury must reach a unanimous verdict in order to convict."
"The answer is unmistakable," he said.
(https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/20/politics/scotus-jury-verdict-criminal-trial/index.html)
"unmistakable": YES!
Why in the world would we not have uniform rules for jury trials across all 50 states?
Mr. Ramos was convicted in 2014 on a 10-2 vote. As such, he will get a new trial.
As will countless others who were sentenced to prison on less-than-unanimous jury votes.
Not just in Louisiana...... but also in Oregon.
Hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of cases will need to be re-tried in court.
Think of the impact on the court system.
And on the impacted families.
Grace & Peace & Love to you all -
Matt
