Red Bluff Daily News

May 24, 2016

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ByMarkSherman The Associated Press WASHINGTON The Su- preme Court upended the conviction and death sen- tence of a black Georgia man Monday because pros- ecutors violated the Con- stitution by excluding Af- rican-Americans from the all-white jury that deter- mined his fate. The 7-1 ruling in favor of death row inmate Tim- othy Tyrone Foster came in a case in which defense lawyers obtained strik- ingly frank notes from prosecutors detailing ef- forts to keep African- Americans off of Foster's jury. The decision broke no new ground in efforts to fight racial discrimina- tion in jury selection, but underscored the impor- tance of a 30-year-old high court ruling that took aim at the exclusion of minori- ties from juries. Chief Justice John Rob- erts wrote for the court that "prosecutors were mo- tivated in substantial part by race" when they struck African-Americans from the jury pool, focusing on the decision to exclude two black jurors. Two such jury strikes "on the basis of race are two more than the Con- stitution allows," Roberts wrote. The high court returned Foster's case to state court, but Stephen Bright, Fos- ter's Atlanta-based lawyer, said "there is no doubt" that the decision Monday means Foster is entitled to a new trial, 29 years after he was sentenced to death for killing a white woman. The decision did noth- ing, however, to limit pe- remptory strikes, lawyers' ability to reject potential jurors without offering any reason. The late Thurgood Marshall, the first African- American to serve on the Supreme Court, once said that racial discrimination would per- sist in jury s ele c t ion unless pe- rempt or y strikes were curtailed. Ju s t i c e C l a r e n c e T h o m a s dissented, saying he would have re- spected the decisions of state judges who sided with prosecutors and re- jected Foster's claims. Thomas, a Georgia native, recounted Foster's confes- sion to having murdered a 79-year-old retired school- teacher "after having sex- ually assaulted her with a bottle of salad dressing." When the case was ar- gued in November, the justices did little to hide their distaste for the tac- tics employed by prosecu- tors in north Georgia. Jus- tice Elena Kagan said the case seemed as clear a vio- lation "as a court is ever go- ing to see." Still, Georgia courts had consistently rejected Foster's claims of dis- crimination, even af- ter his lawyers obtained prosecutors' notes that re- vealed their focus on the black people in the jury pool. In one example, a handwritten note headed "Definite No's" listed six people, of whom five were the remaining black pro- spective jurors. The sixth person on the list was a white woman who made clear she would never impose the death penalty, according to Bright. And yet even that woman ranked behind the black jurors, he said. The court was not per- suaded by the state's ar- gument that the notes fo- cused on black people in the jury pool because pros- ecutors were preparing to defend against discrimina- tion claims. The Supreme Court's rul- ing about race discrimina- tion in jury selection was about a year old when Fos- ter's case went to trial, the state said. The 1986 deci- sion in Batson v. Kentucky set up a system by which trial judges could evaluate claimsofdiscriminationand theexplanationsbyprosecu- tors that their actions were not based on race. "This argument falls flat," Roberts wrote. He noted that the record shows "a concerted effort to keep black prospective jurors off the jury." Georgia Attorney Gen- eral Sam Olens declined to comment on the decision. Foster's trial lawyers did not so much contest his guilt as try to explain it as a product of a troubled childhood, drug abuse and mental illness. They also raised objections about the exclusion of African- Americans from the jury. On that point, the judge accepted prosecutor Ste- phen Lanier's explanations that factors other than race drove his decisions. The jury convicted Foster and sentenced him to death. WASHINGTON SupremeCourtupendsall-white jury verdict and death sentence Foster PHOTOSBYPATRICKSEMANSKY—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Officer Edward Nero, center, one of six Baltimore city police officers charged in connection to the death of Freddie Gray, arrives at a courthouse to receive a verdict in his trial in Baltimore, Monday. By Juliet Linderman The Associated Press BALTIMORE Prosecutors failed for the second time in their bid to hold Balti- more police accountable for the arrest and death of Freddie Gray when an offi- cer was acquitted Monday in the racially charged case that triggered riots a year ago. A judge cleared Officer Edward Nero of assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct, conclud- ing that Nero played little role in Gray's arrest and wasn't responsible for the failure to buckle the black man into the police van where he suffered a bro- ken neck. Upon hearing the ver- dict, Nero hugged his attor- ney and appeared to wipe away a tear. Nero, who is white, was the second of six offi- cers charged in the case to stand trial. The manslaugh- ter case against Officer Wil- liam Porter ended in a mis- trial in December when the jury deadlocked. Prose- cutors plan to retry him in September. Nero's lawyers said he and his wife and family are "elated that this nightmare is finally over." "The state's attorney for Baltimore City rushed to charge him, as well as the other five officers, com- pletely disregarding the facts of the case and the ap- plicable law," they said in a statement. Prosecutors had no com- ment; they are under a gag order. Trial No. 3 — that of van driver Caesar Goodson, who prosecutors believe is most culpable in Gray's death — is set to begin in two weeks. He is charged with second- degree murder. David Weinstein, a Flor- ida attorney and former federal civil rights prose- cutor who has been follow- ing the case, said the ver- dict will probably serve as a "wake-up call" for prose- cutors. "This speaks to the no- tion a lot of people had when this first happened, which is that it was a rush to judgment," Weinstein said. "The state's attorney was trying to balance what she had with the public out- cry and call to action given the climate in Baltimore and across the U.S. concern- ing policing, and I think she was overreaching." Gray died a week after suffering a spinal injury in the back of the van while he was handcuffed and shack- led but not belted in. His death set off looting and arson that prompted authorities to declare a citywide curfew and call out the National Guard to quell unrest in Baltimore for the first time since the riots that erupted in 1968 over the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Gray's name became a rallying cry in the grow- ing furor over the deaths of black men in clashes with police. Nero, 30, waived his right to a jury trial, choosing in- stead to let Circuit Judge Barry Williams decide his fate. The assault charge alone carried up to 10 years in prison. "The state's theory has been one of recklessness and negligence," the judge said in his ruling . "There has been no evidence that the defendant intended for a crime to occur." Nero remains on desk duty and still faces a de- partmental investigation that could result in disci- plinary action. About a dozen protesters gathered outside the court- house as the verdict was read, but they were far out- numbered by members of the media. Mayor Stephanie Raw- lings-Blake noted the de- partmental review and pleaded for calm. "We once again ask the citizens to be patient and to allow the entire process to come to a conclusion," she said. "In the case of any dis- turbance in the city, we are prepared to respond. We will protect our neighbor- hoods, our businesses and the people of our city." Officer cleared of all charges in F re dd ie G ra y de at h ca se BALTIMORE Protesters gather outside of a courthouse a er Officer Edward Nero was acquitted of all charges in his trial in Baltimore on Monday. By Matthew Daly The Associated Press WASHINGTON Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald said Monday that the VA should not use wait times as a measure of success, comparing waits for VA health care to the hours people wait for rides at Disney theme parks. "When you go to Disney, do they measure the num- ber of hours you wait in line? Or what's important? What's important is, what's your satisfaction with the experience?" McDonald said during a Christian Sci- ence Monitor breakfast on Monday. "And what I would like to move to, eventually, is that kind of measure." McDonald's comments set off a political firestorm, with Republicans denounc- ing the remarks as inaccu- rate and inappropriate. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., called Mc- Donald's comments "flip- pant" and said they show "just how seriously the Obama administration's VA is taking life or death problems" at the agency. "This is not make-be- lieve, Mr. Secretary. Vet- erans have died waiting in those lines," Ryan said on Twitter. McDonald took office in July 2014 after his pre- decessor was forced out amid a scandal over chron- ically long wait times at VA health care sites and re- ports that as many as 40 patients died while await- ing care at the Phoenix VA hospital. Similar prob- lems were discovered at VA health sites nationwide, along with a widespread practice among VA employ- ees of creating secret lists to cover up the long wait times and receive VA bo- nuses. "There is nothing amus- ing about VA's performance over the past few years, and comparing VA wait times to those of an amusement park is just plain wrong," said Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House vet- erans panel. "Wait times are of criti- cal importance to the vet- erans waiting for VA med- ical care and they should be to Secretary McDonald as well," Miller said. 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