A federal judge in Manhattan tossed an indictment against a Bronx shooting suspect because of a lack of racial diversity in the White Plains grand jury pool — the first such ruling since city cases were moved to the suburban county amid the pandemic.
Judge Analisa Torres sided with defendant William Scott, who had argued that black and Hispanic people were underrepresented in the grand jury pool that returned an indictment against him in June of last year.
Scott was charged with possessing ammunition in connection to a shooting in the Bronx, but was charged in the Southern District of New York’s White Plains division.
His attorney had argued that because Scott was charged in the White Plains division — instead of the district’s more diverse Manhattan division — prosecutors excluded potential jurors from southern counties of the district.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
So what proportion of people of color constitutes a legal jury to try a person of color? Would a white defendant be entitled to a certain proportion of white people on his jury? This is what happens when courts become social engineers, and this is based on the assumption that jurors are all racially biased.
Judge Analisa Torres sided with defendant William Scott, who had argued that black and Hispanic people were underrepresented in the grand jury pool that returned an indictment against him in June of last year.
Scott was charged with possessing ammunition in connection to a shooting in the Bronx, but was charged in the Southern District of New York’s White Plains division.
His attorney had argued that because Scott was charged in the White Plains division — instead of the district’s more diverse Manhattan division — prosecutors excluded potential jurors from southern counties of the district.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
So what proportion of people of color constitutes a legal jury to try a person of color? Would a white defendant be entitled to a certain proportion of white people on his jury? This is what happens when courts become social engineers, and this is based on the assumption that jurors are all racially biased.