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Molly Ezell, a resident of New Orleans, is holding a sign promoting a Louisiana constitutional amendment demanding the unanimous verdict of a 12-member jury in serious crime cases in the United States. State on October 29, 2018 in New Orleans. Louisiana is one of only two states to allow convictions handed down by a jury of 10 votes against 2 or 11 votes to 1. The amendment that would change that is on the November 6 ballot. lessMolly Ezell, a resident of New Orleans, is holding a sign promoting a Louisiana constitutional amendment demanding the unanimous verdict of a 12-member jury in serious crime cases in the United States. State of 29 October 2018 in New York.
Photo: Kevin McGill, AP
Photo: Kevin McGill, AP
NEW YORK (AP) – Voters will decide Tuesday whether Louisiana should join nearly every other state in the country where jurors' verdicts must be unanimous.
For decades, jurors in criminal trials – with the exception of the death penalty cases – were able to convict the defendants with a 10-2 or 11-1 verdict.
Oregon is the only other state to authorize shared verdicts and, in Louisiana, support for membership in the other 48 has been broad, with a rare coalition of conservatives and progressives demanding passage.
US Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican and the only Democrat in the Congress delegation, Cedric Richmond's representative from New Orleans, supported it. Such politically diverse groups as the Louisiana Family Forum and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Supporters mocked multiple-choice crimes as a vestige of Jim Crow's policies promoting white supremacy, facilitating the conviction of non-white defendants, even if one or two non-whites were part of one. jury. And they noted the possibility of a non-unanimous jury to convict innocent defendants.
A video distributed by the Unanimous Jury Coalition featured two exonerated convicts who had been imprisoned following separate verdicts.
It was a fear exploited in a 30-second online announcement for the amendment of conservative Americans, backed by Koch-brothers and backed for prosperity. "Imagine your child being accused of a crime that she did not commit," he said. "Several jurors agree that she is innocent but the government still sends her to jail, which is happening in Louisiana."
Although broad, support was not unanimous.
The District Attorney of Calcasieu Parish, John DeRosier, was a declared opponent when the amendment was passed by the Legislative Assembly. Sabine parish district prosecutor Don Burkett also publicly opposed this complaint, saying that it would contradict justice by allowing a single juror to block a conviction in a case where the evidence is clearly out of reach. reasonable doubt.
"Child molesters, drug traffickers, murderers – it's going to make the conviction more difficult than ever," Burkett said in an interview.
The Louisiana District Attorneys Association has remained officially neutral. However, some prosecutors provided full support.
The district attorneys supporting the measure included Hillar Moore III in Baton Rouge, James Stewart in Caddo Parish, Keith Stutes in Lafayette and Paul Connick in Jefferson Parish on the outskirts of New Orleans. New Orleans Attorney Leon Cannizzaro remained neutral.
"Once you know the history of this law, you have to vote to repeal it," said Ed Tarpley, former attorney for Grant Parish at Republican, at the Baton Rouge Press Club as part of campaign for this amendment. "It's something that stains the legacy of our state."
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For full coverage of US mid-term elections by AP: http://apne.ws/APPolitics
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