The California Supreme Court ruling in People v. Weatherton is available in Adobe .pdf format.
"Convictions in death penalty case overturned due to juror misconduct," is by Maura Dolan for the Los Angeles Times. Here's the beginning:
The California Supreme Court on Monday unanimously overturned multiple convictions that sent a Riverside County man to death row for murdering two people and attempting to kill a third.
In a ruling written by Justice Carol A. Corrigan, the state high court said juror misconduct tainted the 2002 trial of Fred Lewis Weatherton, creating "a substantial likelihood of actual bias" that deprived him of a fair trial.
The state Supreme Court rarely overturns verdicts in death penalty cases, and the unanimity of the court in such rulings is even more unusual.
But Corrigan, one of the more conservative justices, cited evidence that a juror identified only as "P.P." decided Weatherton should get the death penalty before the trial was even over and discussed his views outside deliberations.
“P.P.’s transformation from impartial fact finder to combative advocate before deliberations began is separate and serious misconduct,” Corrigan wrote.
Related posts are in the jury and post-conviction review category indexes.
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