Court: Louisiana unanimous jury requirement not retroactive
By KEVIN McGILL
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana’s highest court says a prohibition on nonunanimous jury verdicts in the state does not have to be applied retroactively to past convictions. Friday’s ruling came in the case of Reginald Reddick, who was convicted of murder by a 10-2 jury vote in 1997. It has implications for hundreds of others imprisoned on nonunanimous verdicts. In 2018, Louisiana voters approved a constitutional amendment prohibiting nonunanimous verdicts in trials for crimes committed after Jan. 1, 2019. In later rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed nonunanimous verdicts but did not make the ruling retroactive. Friday’s ruling was criticized by an organization that had pursued a new trial for Reddick.
