Oregon's top courts begin reversing nonunanimous convictions
Source: Associated Press
Andrew Selsky, Associated Press
Updated 4:20 pm CDT, Thursday, May 28, 2020
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon's top two courts on Thursday began reversing convictions by nonunanimous juries, the first of hundreds — and perhaps ultimately thousands — of cases that will be scrutinized after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in April that nonunanimous jury verdicts are unconstitutional.
The Oregon Supreme Court returned 16 cases to the trial courts. The Court of Appeal reversed convictions in three other cases and remanded them to the trial courts.
“The county prosecutor can decide to drop the charges, proceed with the charges or, perhaps, try to negotiate a settlement,” said Marc Brown, an Oregon public defender who works on appeals. “For example, there may be a case in which the defendant already served most of their sentence, so the prosecutor may offer time served in exchange for a plea.”
On May 11, a top Oregon Department of Justice official said 269 convictions should be reversed and remanded for new trials. The list will only grow, Solicitor General Benjamin Gutman said in a May 11 letter obtained by The Associated Press.
Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/article/Oregon-s-top-courts-begin-reversing-nonunanimous-15301014.php