2,000 people were called as potential jurors when Lezmond Mitchell was tried in an Arizona federal court. More than 400 of the potential jurors were Native American and 99% of them were dismissed from the jury pool. That is not a jury of Mitchell’s peers.
Potential jurors were dismissed if they only spoke Navajo even though the case involved a Navajo defendant, Navajo victims, and a crime committed on the Navajo reservation.
The judge repeatedly asked potential jurors questions like, “You’re Navajo and he’s Navajo, so can you be fair?” This is highly inappropriate. Can you imagine a judge asking if white potential jurors could be fair to a white defendant?
Navajo potential jurors were dismissed for holding traditional religious values about the importance of upholding human life. Again, highly inappropriate and a potential constitutional violation.
