State of Louisiana v. Jerry Jackson

• Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
• Decided: May 26, 2021
• Docket: 53,795-KA
• Status: Published

Opinion

Judgment rendered May 26, 2021. Application for rehearing may be filed within the delay allowed by Art. 922, La. C. Cr. P.

No. 53,795-KA

COURT OF APPEAL SECOND CIRCUIT STATE OF LOUISIANA

*****

STATE OF LOUISIANA Appellee

versus

JERRY JACKSON Appellant

Appealed from the First Judicial District Court for the Parish of Caddo, Louisiana Trial Court No. 342,447

Honorable John D. Mosely, Jr., Judge

LOUISIANA APPELLATE PROJECT Counsel for Appellant By: Peggy J. Sullivan

JERRY JACKSON Pro Se

JAMES E. STEWART, SR. Counsel for Appellee District Attorney

TOMMY J. JOHNSON TRENEISHA HILL JASON WALTMAN Assistant District Attorneys

Before PITMAN, COX, and ROBINSON, JJ. PITMAN, J.

A nonunanimous jury convicted Defendant Jerry Jackson of one count

of manslaughter and one count of second degree murder. The trial court

sentenced him to 40 years at hard labor, to run consecutively to any other

sentences, for the manslaughter conviction and to life imprisonment at hard

labor, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence, for the

second degree murder conviction. Defendant appeals his convictions and

sentences. Pursuant to Ramos v. Louisiana, --- U.S ---, 140 S. Ct. 1390,

206 L. Ed. 2d 583 (2020), we vacate Defendant’s convictions and sentences

and remand to the trial court for a new trial.

FACTS

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 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 under 2 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.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, we vacate the convictions and sentences of

Defendant Jerry Jackson and remand to the trial court for a new trial.

REVERSED AND REMANDED.