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Date: 06-25-2021
Case Style:
State of Louisiana vs. Jerry Jackson
Case Number: 53,795-KA
Judge: Michael “Mike” Pitman
Court: COURT OF APPEAL
SECOND CIRCUIT
STATE OF LOUISIANA
Plaintiff's Attorney: JAMES E. STEWART, SR.
District Attorney
TOMMY J. JOHNSON
TRENEISHA HILL
JASON WALTMAN
Assistant District Attorne
Defendant's Attorney:
Description:
Shreveport LA - Criminal defense attorney represented Jerry Jackson with two counts of second degree murder charge.
On September 23, 2016, the state filed an indictment charging
Defendant with two counts of second degree murder, in violation of La.
R.S. 14:30.1. It alleged that on July 20, 2016, Defendant committed the
second degree murders of Kendrick Brown and Michael Dillard.
The jury trial began on June 10, 2019. On June 15, 2019, the jury
found Defendant guilty of the responsive verdict of manslaughter for the
death of Kendrick Brown. For the death of Michael Dillard, the jury found
Defendant guilty as charged of second degree murder. The jury was polled
on each count. The trial court reviewed the written jury polling slips and
declared that the verdict was legal as to each count.
At a hearing on July 17, 2019, the trial court denied Defendant’s
motions for new trial and for post-verdict judgment of acquittal. It
sentenced Defendant to 40 years at hard labor, to run consecutively to any
other sentences, for the manslaughter conviction and to life imprisonment at 2
hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence,
for the second degree murder conviction.
On January 22, 2020, Defendant filed a motion to reconsider sentence,
which was denied by the trial court. He also filed a motion to appeal his
convictions and sentences.
DISCUSSION
On October 12, 2020, Defendant filed an appellate brief and included
as an assignment of error that the record did not support a conclusion that he
was convicted by a unanimous jury, as required by Ramos, supra. He noted
that at the time of the verdicts, a vote of 10 out of 12 jurors was sufficient to
convict and that the trial court instructed the jury as such. He added that
although the trial court determined the verdict was legal, it did not state
whether the jury reached a unanimous verdict. Accordingly, Defendant
argued that his convictions should be set aside and the case be remanded for
a new trial.
On October 22, 2020, the state filed a motion to supplement the record
with the written jury polling slips. On November 24, 2020, this court
granted the motion and ordered the trial court to supplement the record with
duplicate certified copies of the written jury polling slips for each count.
The record was supplemented on December 7, 2020.
On December 14, 2020, the state filed a brief stating that its review of
the written jury polling slips revealed a less than unanimous jury verdict as
to each count. Citing Ramos, supra, it agreed that Defendant’s convictions
and sentences should be reversed and the case remanded to the trial court.
In Ramos, supra, the United States Supreme Court held that the Sixth
Amendment’s right to a jury trial, as incorporated against the States under3
the Fourteenth Amendment, requires a unanimous jury verdict to convict a
defendant of a serious offense in both federal and state courts. As a result,
the state will have to retry any defendant convicted of serious offenses by
nonunanimous juries and whose cases are still pending on direct appeal.
State v. Corn, 52,867 (La. App. 2 Cir. 7/8/20), 299 So. 3d 749, writ denied,
20-00928 (La. 11/10/20), 303 So. 3d 1040. The instant case was pending on
direct review when Ramos, supra, was decided; and, therefore, its holding
applies. State v. Cohen, 19-00949 (La. 1/27/21), --- So. 3d ---, citing Griffith
v. Kentucky, 479 U.S. 314, 107 S. Ct. 708, 93 L. Ed. 2d 649 (1987). Despite
the fact that the issue was not preserved for appellate review by
contemporaneous objection, we recognize this as error patent on the face of
the record. State v. Corn, supra.
A review of the written jury polling slips indicates that the verdict on
each count was less than unanimous, i.e., votes of ten to two on both counts.
Therefore, Defendant is entitled to a new trial.
Outcome: For the foregoing reasons, we vacate the convictions and sentences of
Defendant Jerry Jackson and remand to the trial court for a new trial.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: