California | Murder-for-hire killer on death row for 33 years must either be released or retried, judge rules

A murderer-for-hire who has been on death row for the past 33 years must be retried or released, a judge ruled, after it was found that some jurors were illegally excused based on their race or ethnic identity during the trial

Because of prosecutorial misconduct in the selection of the jury in the trial of a convicted death row murderer-for-hire, a judge ruled that the man must now be freed or, at the very least, retried.

The Alameda County prosecutor's office now has just 60 days to retry 71-year-old Curtis Lee Ervin or set him free, a California judge ruled at the request of California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Ervin was found guilty of a murder-for-hire in 1986 and has been on California's death row ever since.

But when the jury was being selected nearly four decades ago, several potential jurors were reportedly dismissed, especially those who were Black or Jewish.

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price says her office is in the process of reviewing dozens of death penalty cases in which prosecutors purposefully dismissed jurors based on their identities, a practice she told CNN occurred from the 1980s through the early 2000s.

Bonta argued that prosecutors illegally excluded Black jurors from Ervin's case, which could have impacted the outcome. Price told CNN that there's no plan yet on how to proceed with the case, but her office has until Sept. 30 to make a decision, it was reported.

Ervin was placed on death row in 1991 after being found guilty of murdering Carlene McDonald, a 43-year-old woman who was the ex-wife of Ervin's co-defendant, Robert McDonald. McDonald was also found guilty of the murder and died in prison.

Amid the possibility that Ervin could be freed after spending 33 years on death row, his lawyer, Pamala Sayasane, told CNN that her client is "overjoyed and in disbelief," since he's been in prison for a total of 38 years. She said he's "grateful to everyone who helped him" and said she herself is "in a daze" just like her client.

She said the decision made by the state's attorney general "is rarely made" and said it's a "big thing" that's "going to have ramifications for others on death row." In Ervin's case, Sayasane said all six Black women who may have been on the jury were dismissed, as were three Black men. Only one Black man was seated, and another was selected as an alternate, she told CNN.

Not only were the jurors excused based on sex but also because of their race, which violates the 14th Amendment and its Equal Protection Clause.

This isn't the first case Price is seeking to overturn or at least open an investigation into misconduct for, either. Last year, she opened an investigation into the jury selection in the case of Ernest Dykes, who was found guilty of shooting and killing a 9-year-old in 1993. She said that she has plans to get Dykes resentenced and that she was looking into another death row inmate's case for other Batson violations — the violations of the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.

Price even said some investigators may have acted criminally as she vowed that a team of prosecutors would look into more cases. She said a current team uncovered boxes with notes that show previous deputy district attorneys intentionally dismissed jurors because they were Black or Jewish.

Attorney Brian Pomerantz, who is the lead counsel for three of the cases Price's office is reviewing, is also involved in the settlement of dozens of other cases. He told CNN, "The markings by the prosecutor next to the names of Black jurors were affirmative evidence of the prosecution’s fixation with the jurors’ race."

Pomerantz added, "All of these people deserve to have either a new trial or a resolution of their current case that rectifies the injustice ... of the unconstitutional trials that they had."

Linda Kenney Baden, a high-profile defense attorney, said prosecuting a crime that occurred over four decades ago, however, is "almost impossible." Witnesses have died, and jurors would therefore have to rely on transcripts, which can be grueling and difficult to sit through.

Newer prosecutors are also scared to touch the cases, she said, because doing so could mean tarnishing their reputations if they lose. Nevertheless, Price is committed to justice, and she's not planning on stopping until she helps as many death row inmates as she can.

Source: themirror.com, Jeremiah Hassel, August 3, 2024

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