Juror Intimidation, Rogue Jurors Will Take Center Stage If Unanimous Juries Required

One phone call to the right juror or the juror’s mama is all it will take to make sure that juror holds out for acquittal. If the juror does hold out, the guilty thug on trial — the very one who had the call made — will walk free! That is what will happen if a Constitutional Amendment headed to the Nov. 6 ballot is approved by voters. It requires that 12 of 12 jurors must vote for conviction in all felony cases, not just capital cases!
The amendment leaves in one person’s hands the fate of the defendant and the victim! And that person may very well have motives or fears that go far beyond the facts of the case!
How many violent criminals will continue to wreck havoc on our communities if this amendment is approved by voters? No one knows.
But there is one thing we do know: The members of the legislature including many “conservatives” ran and hid when SB243 by Sen. J. P. Morrell came up. They were too afraid of being called racists to speak up and tell the truth about a bill that could have devastating consequences for all of us.
Present law in Louisiana provides that 12 of 12 jurors must vote to convict in a capital case but only 10 of 12 are needed to vote to convict in other felony cases.
The Advocate newspaper, which has devoted countless pages to telling one side of this story, says that the current law can be traced back to the 1890’s and Jim Crow, as though every bill passed by the legislature in that period was about race.
Well, you don’t need to go back that far, because the current Louisiana Constitution was drafted in 1973. I served on the Committee on Bill of Rights and Elections, which drafted the Declaration of Rights in the current constitution. That committee was chaired by the late Rep. Alphonse Jackson, a close friend of mine who was a liberal black Democrat. The 10-member committee included Novyse Soniat, a black delegate from New Orleans; Kendall Vick, the senior counsel for the ACLU; Tony Guarisco, who later served in the Louisiana Senate and was one of the more liberal members ever to serve in the legislature; Alexandria attorney Chris Roy, a prominent trial attorney, and Rep. Ford Stinson, a criminal defense attorney. All 10 members of the committee supported the Declaration of Rights as well as the requirement of 10 of 12 jurors to convict in non-capital felony cases. Understand that the 10 of 12 vote is a vote to convict OR to acquit! In our state, a person is acquitted if 10 jurors vote for acquittal Otherwise, there is a hung jury. In many other states, it takes 12 of 12 to acquit.
At the Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1973, the Committee on Bill of Rights and Elections could have easily voted to require that all felony trials be unanimous. But we didn’t, because we thought that would be wrong. We weren’t persuaded because 48 other states do things a certain way. That’s an absurd argument! Our job was to make sure we have a criminal justice system that is fair and works.
If you think a 10 of 12 vote is racist, don’t blame someone back in 1898! Blame our Committee on Bill of Rights and Elections — one of the most liberal, non-racist bodies ever assembled in this state.
Every one of us on the Committee on Bill of Rights and Elections understood that a certain percentage of the public are criminals (8 percent are felons), mentally unbalanced, emotionally unstable, or downright corrupt. People can be bribed or intimidated, and some of these folks are sitting as jurors. They sit not only to protect the rights of the defendant but the victim as well.
Intimidation is the greatest problem. As one prosecutor told me recently, he sees it even in the courtroom itself. Gang members are showing up for the trial. Their mere presence in the courtroom can cause panic by witnesses and jurors.
Right now, of course, if one or two jurors are intimidated, the defendant can still be convicted, if at least 10 jurors are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt.
We recently faced this problem at Istrouma. A young man was murdered at a convenience store on Prescott Road. There were more than a dozen young people who witnessed what happened. So far, not one will tell the police who did it! They are afraid, and they have every reason to be, because if they testify, there is no one to protect them.
So is the legislature proposing to protect jurors who are threatened because of how they vote? Absolutely not! The legislature is doing nothing to protect jurors! They apparently believe jurors will simply do their duty, return to their communities, and everything will be fine. No, the reality is, some jurors simply won’t vote to convict — no matter what the facts of the case are — because of well-justified fear.
The problem of rogue jurors or wing nuts is another major problem. It is impossible to know the hidden motives of people. There are people who hate cops. There are child molesters who make it to the jury pool. There is every kind of bias. That’s why you can’t leave the decision in one or two people’s hands.
How will prosecutors react if this passes with voters Nov. 6?
They will do whatever they can to get a good jury. At present, it takes about two days to choose a jury in an ordinary felony case. But it takes a five days in a capital case. Why? Because the prosecutor is doing everything he can to find 12 jurors who are unbiased and cannot be intimidated. That is a very difficult task!
So with unanimous juries required for ALL felonies, how long would jury selection take for those cases? Close to five days! That’s the only way to sort through and find a good jury.
The result of that would be a collapse of the criminal justice system.
There is no money now for the indigent defender fund to pay all the expenses. Imagine how it would be if every felony trial required five days of jury selection!
Imagine the cost to the District Attorney’s office!
Who will pay for all of this?
One thing is certain.
Prosecutors would have no choice but to charge fewer serious offenders with crimes and release more and more of the guilty. Otherwise, the criminal justice system will simply not be able to handle the cases.
It’s very similar to what happens every time an illegal alien is apprehended. Each one is supposed to have a trial but the volume is so great, they are simply released.
A great many criminals will simply never be billed and will be left free to prey upon us!
Be assured that we will hear a lot more one-sided arguments in favor of this Constitutional Amendment between now and Nov. 6.
However, I hope you will join me in letting people know the truth — this is a very bad proposal!