Just 1 Black juror. 11 white. To decide killing of Ahmaud Arbery. Simply jogging. Pursued & shot by a group of white men in a pickup truck last year. Judge found “intentional discrimination” in jury selection. But hands tied by law. This is not okay. More:cnn.com/2021/11/03/us/…
Even though judge in Ahmaud Arbery’s case found intentional discrimination in jury selection, in Georgia “all the defense needs to do is provide that legitimate, nondiscriminatory, clear, reasonably specific & related reason," for why they struck a juror. usatoday.com/story/news/nat…
Ahmaud Arbery’s killer’s attorney: “We are very pleased that we have been able to select now 16 members of this community.” In Glynn County, GA, more than 26% of the 85,000 residents are Black. Only one Black juror was picked. “Community.” cnn.com/2021/11/03/us/…
Impact on trust in “Justice.”
Wanda Cooper-Jones, Arbery's mother, said as she left the courthouse Wednesday she was "shocked" there was only one Black juror.
"I mean, that was devastating," she said.
With her son before he was killed:
Wanda Cooper-Jones, Arbery's mother, said as she left the courthouse Wednesday she was "shocked" there was only one Black juror.
"I mean, that was devastating," she said.
With her son before he was killed:
The Ahmaud Arbery jury selection really exposes the outrage of the law as set forth by the US Supreme Court. Even where a judge *thinks* there’s intentional discrimination, if attorneys can marshall a “race natural” basis for the strike, judge can still allow case to proceed.
Black jurors in the Ahmaud Arbery case could be struck if they answered—truthfully—that they believed the Confederate flag was a racist symbol. Unbelievable the question was even allowed to be asked. Unbelievable that this was considered a “race-neutral” reason to strike.
https://twitter.com/DistrictOfAlex/status/1456228086652022784
There’s a new way forward. California (like Washington state) just changed their law to require judges simply to determine whether a reasonable person would find race based reason to strike. No need to enter the subjective intent of attorneys. law.com/therecorder/20…
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