ABA Journal

Juries

959 ABA Journal Juries articles.

Afternoon Briefs: Peremptory challenge curbs allowed; more federal courts halt jury trials

Juror shortages lead to curbs on peremptory challenges

Judges in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, are allowed to ban or reduce peremptory challenges in civil cases to avoid running out of potential…

Resignation of judge who called juror ‘Aunt Jemima’ is ‘binding and irrevocable,’ judicial court says

The Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline has said a judge who referred to a juror as “Aunt Jemima” can’t change his mind about resigning.

Federal inmate tried by all-white jury is executed after Supreme Court lifts execution stay

Federal death-row inmate Orlando Hall was executed Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted an execution stay issued by a federal judge who said the government needed a prescription for the execution drug.

Afternoon Briefs: Several states pause jury trials; suit accuses Texas AG of whistleblower retaliation

Several states stop jury trials

A surge in COVID-19 cases has led several states to suspend jury trials. They include New York, Maryland, Texas, New Mexico and Wyoming. (The

Should juries be feared or revered? Retired lawyer examines their roles

The jury system first scared me at the age of 9. How, you ask? I grew up in Montreal, the son of parents who immigrated from Belgium. My late father was a humble tailor who worked in a factory. One day, we received a letter in the mail. It had an impressive-looking logo of a crown and the scales of justice.

Oregon and Louisiana grapple with past criminal convictions made with split verdicts

In April, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Ramos v. Louisiana that split verdicts in state trials for serious criminal offenses violated the Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial, overturning a high court ruling in 1972 that upheld them. The effect of the court’s ruling in Ramos is that state courts will now vacate cases with split verdicts on direct appeal. Prosecutors will next decide whether to retry them. What is unclear is whether the ruling will apply retroactively.

Afternoon Briefs: Breonna Taylor grand jury recordings will be released; another firm pays special bonuses

Kentucky AG will release Breonna Taylor grand jury recordings

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has said he will comply with a judge’s order to release a recording of grand jury…

State AG drops case against Black man who faced 6 murder trials and spent 23 years in prison

After six murder trials that ended with overturned convictions or mistrials, prosecutors in Mississippi announced Friday that they were dropping the case against Curtis Flowers.

Potential juror says he was put in COVID-19 ‘petri dish’ at jail for refusing to wear mask in court

A visiting judge in Great Falls, Montana, held a juror in contempt and sent him to jail last week for refusing to wear a face shield or a mask for a trial.

Can you be removed from a jury pool for supporting Black Lives Matter?

Questioning a potential juror named Crishala Reed, the prosecutor homed in on a sentence from Reed's questionnaire. "I support Black Lives Matter," she had written.

Discussion on Zoom between plaintiff and jurors is not grounds for mistrial, judge says

A California judge has refused to grant a mistrial in an asbestos case in which the plaintiff chatted with jurors on Zoom during a break in the virtual trial.

Afternoon Briefs: Lawyer is accused of $20M money laundering scam; BigLaw firm trims salary cuts

Lawyer is charged in alleged $20M cryptocurrency scam

Lawyer Scott Hughes, 44, of Newport Beach, California, has been accused of helping launder at least $20 million in an alleged cryptocurrency…

8th Circuit rules against grand juror who wanted to talk about Michael Brown case

A federal appeals court has ruled against a grand juror who wanted to correct the record after a prosecutor discussed evidence in the 2014 fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old Black man, by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

Netflix’s new Jeffrey Epstein docuseries explores conspiracy theories and crime cover-ups

Oklahoma lawyer Adam Banner breaks down Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich and various conspiracy theories surrounding the accusations against Epstein and his death. Banner also shares personal experiences in which he has dealt with client suicide.

Lawyer-juror’s outside research entitles man to new trial hearing, appeals court says

Outside research by a lawyer-juror entitles a convicted Colorado defendant to a hearing on his new trial bid, a state appeals court has ruled.

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