A hat tip to Howard Bashman at How Appealing. Bruce Alpert has, "Supreme Court casts doubts on Jeff death row trial," in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Stephen Bright, Snyder's attorney, focused on two of the five potential black jurors who he suggested were held to a different standard by the Jefferson Parish prosecutor than two white jurors who had appeared for jury duty with similar circumstances and similar answers to questions during jury selection.
In one example, Bright cited a potential black juror, a college student, who expressed concern that serving on the jury might cause him to fall short in his student-teaching requirement that he observe classes taught by an established instructor. The court clerk contacted his dean, who said serving on the jury would not be a problem. After informing the student of the dean's comments, the student said he was "OK" with the dean's assurance.
A white juror, Bright said, had expressed concern that as a contractor he wouldn't be able to complete promised work on two homes and that his wife had just undergone surgery and needed his help, including driving their children to school.
The prosecutors moved successfully to strike the black student from the jury but raised no objections to the white contractor, who presumably would have had an even greater desire for a quick trial, Bright said.
When five black jurors are excluded, some with identical qualifications to white jurors who were selected, it's hard to rule out racial motivation, Bright said.
In the Washington Post Robert Barnes has, "Court Hears La. Jury Bias Case."
The 1995 killings reminded Jefferson Parish prosecutor James Williams, whose specialty was securing the death penalty for murderers, of another slaying. Snyder, he told reporters, is "my O.J. Simpson case."
But he did not limit his remarks to reporters. And the Supreme Court held a lively session yesterday to determine whether Williams first improperly excluded blacks from the jury that heard the case of Snyder, who is African American, and then appealed to racial prejudice by reminding jurors of the defendant in "the most famous murder case" whose trial had ended 10 months earlier.
"He got away with it," Williams warned.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1986 that prosecutors could not use their jury selection prerogatives to exclude potential jurors simply because of their race. In 2005, it reinforced the message by instructing courts to take a wide look at racial motivation in determining proper jury selection.
Earlier coverage is here.
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