JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Federal prosecutors say Mayor Frank Melton is not entitled to a black jury when he’s tried a second time for the destruction of a duplex he considered a crack house.
Melton’s attorneys want a federal judge to reconsider his decision to choose a jury from south Mississippi.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan’s decision was based on intense media coverage around Jackson.
But Melton, who is black, said the coast is majority white and the lack of possible black jurors won’t allow him to judged by a jury of his peers. (more…)
From law.com
n. a guaranteed right of criminal defendants, in which “peer” means an “equal.” This has been interpreted by courts to mean that the available jurors include a broad spectrum of the population, particularly of race, national origin and gender. Jury selection may include no process which excludes those of a particular race or intentionally narrows the spectrum of possible jurors. It does not mean that women are to be tried by women, Asians by Asians, or African Americans by African Americans.
It’s unfortunate that it has come down to this. While some of his tatics as Mayor were a bit over the top, he was true ol’ skool when it came to dealing with crime. I actually talked about Melton back in 2007 in this post.
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