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The case arose after Evangelisto Ramos was charged with murder, based on circumstantial evidence, for the stabbing death of a prostitute, Trinece Fedison. Although two members of the 12-member jury believed the state had not proven that Ramos committed the murder, Ramos was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole because the Louisiana law in effect at the time allowed a conviction based on a non-unanimous jury verdict. In 2018, Louisiana’s voters amended the State Constitution to require unanimity, though only for crimes committed after 2018.
In weighing in on Ramos v. State of Louisiana, Rutherford Institute attorneys argued that the Sixth Amendment’s right to a unanimous verdict is a fundamental right fully applicable to the states. The Sixth Amendment provides that “[i]n all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury.” The right to a trial by jury guarantees that an accused will be convicted only when all jurors, the only impartial persons who have the benefit of all of the evidence for and against guilt, conclude that the accused is guilty. Unanimity in jury verdicts is required where the Sixth and Seventh Amendments apply. In criminal cases this requirement of unanimity extends to all issues—character or degree of the crime, guilt and punishment—which are left to the jury. The Supreme Court has recognized this unanimity requirement “virtually without dissent” since the 1800s. Like the right to a jury trial and the right to a speedy trial, the common-law right to a unanimous verdict dates back to the Magna Carta. And like the prohibition against double jeopardy, the right to confront witnesses, and the right to a speedy trial, “every state incorporates some form” of the right to a unanimous verdict. Indeed, 49 of the 50 states now require a unanimous verdict to convict an accused of any crime, while Oregon only requires a unanimous verdict to convict persons accused of first-degree murder.
The Supreme Court’s opinion and The Rutherford Institute’s brief in Ramos v. State of Louisiana are available at www.rutherford.org. Affiliate attorneys Michael J. Lockerby, David A. Hickerson, Jay N. Varon and Heather A. Lee of Foley & Lardner assisted The Rutherford Institute in presenting its arguments.
The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties organization, provides legal assistance at no charge to individuals whose constitutional rights have been threatened or violated.
Source: https://bit.ly/2xBuHql
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