High Court Case on Jury-Selection Bias Draws Out Thomas
The Supreme Court appeared ready Wednesday to vacate a death-penalty conviction in a case where the prosecutor had a history of racially motivated juror strikes.
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Federal Jury Finds Roundup Caused Man’s Cancer
A federal jury on Tuesday unanimously found Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer caused a California man’s cancer, advancing his high-stakes San Francisco trial to a second phase to decide whether the agrochemical company is liable for his illness and how much it might owe for selling him a carcinogenic product.
Read moreSupreme Court to Consider Racial Bias in Jury Selection
Curtis Flowers has been jailed in Mississippi for 22 years, even though prosecutors couldn’t get a murder conviction against him to stick through five trials. Three convictions were tossed out, and two other juries couldn’t reach unanimous verdicts.
Read moreJustices Won’t Hear Death-Row Inmate’s Claim of Racist Juror
Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Monday she agrees with the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the appeal of a black death-row inmate who claims he was convicted by a jury that included an outspoken racist, but wrote separately that she is “profoundly troubled by the underlying facts” of the case.
Read moreLawyers for El Chapo Concerned by Juror Misconduct Claims
El Chapo’s lawyers raised concerns of potential juror misconduct and were reviewing their options Wednesday after a member of the jury at the Mexican drug lord’s trial told a news website that several jurors looked at media coverage of the case.
Read moreMueller Ties Roger Stone to Russia, WikiLeaks
The parties in the Roger Stone criminal case must be very careful about what they say to the media and in public, especially at or near the courthouse, a federal judge ruled Friday.
Read moreArrest Punctuates Limbo in ‘El Chapo’ Jury Deliberations
The crowd waiting anxiously for jurors to return a verdict in the Brooklyn trial of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman received an odd surprise Thursday morning as a trial-goer was arrested in the overflow courtroom.
Read moreReligious Juror Focus of Ex-Lawmaker’s Bid to Overturn Conviction
One year into former Congresswoman Corrine Brown’s five-year federal prison sentence, an 11th Circuit panel heard arguments Friday over whether her conviction should be overturned based on the trial court’s dismissal of a juror who said God told him Brown was not guilty.
Read moreJurors Less Likely to Fault Cops Based on Body Cams, Study Finds
Police departments across the country are investing in body cameras as a response to calls for increased accountability in the wake of high-profile shootings, but a study released Monday found that juries are less likely to blame officers for incidents based on footage from body cameras versus dashboard cameras.
Read moreRejected Restitution Case Provokes High Court Dissents
Three justices balked Monday at the Supreme Court’s refusal to take up a case involving whether a judgment of restitution should be decided by a jury.
Read moreSixth Circuit Nixes Tennessee Cap on Punitive Damages
A Tennessee statute capping punitive damages is unconstitutional, a divided Sixth Circuit panel ruled Friday, as state case law from the 1800s shows an award of punitive damages is historically a “finding of fact” that falls in the hands of jurors.
Read moreCourt Defeat Leads DA to Change Tune on Jury-Trial Limits
Just a week after New York’s highest court found that the risk of deportation entitles noncitizens to jury trials on misdemeanor charges, the Bronx district attorney changed her tune Tuesday about seeking the U.S. Supreme Court’s review.
Read moreMinor but Deportable Offenses Warrant Jury Trials, NY Court Rules
Since noncitizens can be deported after convictions on mere misdemeanors, they are entitled to have those charges decided in jury trials, New York’s highest court ruled 5-2 Tuesday.
Read morePolice Shooting
A federal judge refused to overturn a $2.75 million jury award against the city of Los Banos and a police officer who shot to death Sonny Lam, denying the city’s request for judgment as a matter of law and a new trial.
Read moreReal Estate Fraud
Convicted Tuesday by a federal jury, finance executive Peter Cash Doye, 41, and real estate broker Raquel Reid, 38, both of San Diego, face more than 80 years in prison for a $49 million real estate loan fraud.
Read moreTop NY Court Critical of Jury Anonymity in Gang Trial
New York’s highest court appeared reproachful Thursday of the decision to let jurors in the 2010 trial of four gang members remain anonymous.
Read moreDamages
The Arizona Court of Appeals reinstated a $30 million jury award to parents whose son was killed in a high-speed police chase in which he was not involved.
Read more‘El Chapo’ Jury Picked for Trial Set to Run Into 2019
With opening statements still a week a way, attorneys ironed out a jury Wednesday for the New York trial of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
Read moreJim Crow-Era Jury Rule Goes to Louisiana Voters
An overtly racist, 120-year-old Louisiana law with roots in the Jim Crow era that allows split juries of as few as 10 of 12 to convict even in life-sentence cases may be history after the Nov. 6 elections.
Read moreMurder Case With Dueling Transcripts Rejected by Supreme Court
In a capital-murder case where two transcripts are at odds on whether the trial was constitutional, Justice Sonia Sotomayor explained Monday that the Supreme Court had no choice but to turn away the appeal.
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