Who is Melvin Maxie and what is his significance in the debate about non-unanimous jury verdicts?
Melvin Maxie is the defendant who was charged with killing Tyrus Thomas in a car chase and a shootout. This is after the two had a fight in a party they both attended in 2013. The court had directed for a new trial for Maxie issuing a verdict that was unanimously upheld for any conviction. The prosecution had initially decided on a death penalty against the defendant, a decision which required for the unanimous verdict from the jury. However, in 2016 August, they abandoned the pursuit. Maxie's case is significant since it was used to determine the constitutionalism of the non- unanimous jury verdicts. From Maxie's case, it was evident that the racial composition of juries highly influenced their verdicts. Given the more numbers of white juries, they would often use their powers to violate the rights of the African American accused. From Maxie's case, it was clear that the unanimous verdicts of the jury were influenced by racial factors. Furthermore, the condition under which the rule was adopted was not friendly to the African Americans.
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Which amendment did the 11 th District court says was violated by Louisiana’s non-unanimous verdict rule?
Maxie's defense lawyers had challenged the non-unanimous jury verdict on three constitutional reasons. They argued that the non-unanimous verdict had violated the sixth amendment of the constitution which provides for the right to fair trial. The non-unanimous verdict also violated the 14th amendment which provides for equal protection. Also, the counsel argued that the non-unanimous jury had violated the requirement of impartial jury provided by the sixth amendment.
What was the stated purpose of the 1898 Constitutional Convention in which non-unanimous jury verdicts were first made the law in Louisiana? Mr. Stevens said this several times.
Mr. Steven observed that race was an underlying factor which influenced the adoption of the 1898 constitution. This is particularly with regards to the disenfranchisement of the voters from the minority groups stripping the minority groups of their ability to add their voice on the judicial system. He demonstrated that the non-unanimous jury verdict was highly influenced by racial discrimination. After the reconstruction period, the white supremacist sought to remove the black Americans from the legal and political processes. They largely viewed the African Americans as a homogenous people who would not be helpful to their cause. In the delegates’ convention of 1898 state's constitution, afraid that the federal government may intervene, they agreed to adopt a neutral law which was designed in a way that would make the jury services meaningless. They adopted a system of the non-unanimous jury verdict based on the population demographics. Going with the demographics, it was unlikely that the jury would at any time have more than three African Americans and as a result, their contribution would be silenced.
Mr. Stevens talked about “empty votes” as a result of non-unanimous verdicts. What are “empty votes?”
Empty votes are those that did not have any impact or significance on the outcome of a jury trial because the white juries would silence them with their numbers. Since it was unlikely that the African Americans would not be more than 3 in numbers, their contributions would not have any impact because of their small representation.
What was the Batson v Kentucky decision and how does it affect jury selection?
The decision of the court was that whereas a defendant does not have the entitlements to have a jury which is composed either partially or fully of judges of his own race, the state did not have the permission to use the peremptory strength to exclude members of the jury based on their racial backgrounds. Going with the equal protection clause, the defendant is assured that the state shall not exclude members of the defendant's race because of the false assumption that the juries from his race are not fit to serve as jurors.
The decision helped in preventing discriminatory harm on the jury selection as well as prevented the jurors from discriminating against an entire community. The selection process is a significant part in boosting the confidence of the public on the fairness of the judicial system.
