The US Supreme Court will consider overturning a Louisiana man’s 2016 non-unanimous jury conviction in a murder case. Last year the Bayou State voters approved a constitutional amendment requiring unanimous convictions in all felony cases, but the law is not retroactive.
“Most court watchers believe the granting of this cert petition means that they are going to reverse this conviction, and find that the sixth amendment applies to the states,” said Loyola University Law Professor Dane Ciolino.
43-year-old Evangelisto Ramos was convicted of Second Degree Murder on a 10-2 in the death of New Orleans woman, who’s body was found in a garbage can in 2014.
If Ramos’ conviction is overturned, then all current cases being tried, along with those being appealed, would be subject to the new requirement. Ciolino says that impact would be felt immediately in the appeal of one high profile case, the shooting death of former NFL running back Joe McKnight by Ronald Gasser.
“It was a self defense, defense of property case. He was convicted on a 10-2 jury vote. If the Supreme Court reverses this case, that will result in a reversal and a new trial for Mr. Gasser.”
Louisiana’s unanimous juries law only applied to crimes committed in 2019 and beyond.
Ciolino says previous federal challenges to non-unanimous convictions were declined, and so if Ramos’ conviction is overturned, Ciolino says the state will face a major unanswered question about cases that go back decades involving those non-unanimous convictions…
“Whether they are going to get some benefit from what looks like a new rule of constitutional law coming down the pike.”
The US Supreme Court last ruled on the issue in 1972, where it upheld the legality of state non-unanimous jury laws.
