USA - Alabama. Earl Jerome McGahee won a new trial

Earl Jerome McGahee won a new trial. Citing what it called an "astonishing pattern" of discrimination, a 3-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found Alabama violated Earl Jerome McGahee’s 14th Amendment rights. McGahee, who is black, was convicted in Dallas County Circuit Court for killing his ex-wife, Connie Brown, and Cassandra Lee, a college student, in 1985. The appeals panel noted "the total exclusion of African-Americans in this county in which they comprised 55 % and the strong evidence of race-based decision making" in choosing the 1986 jury. Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson said the county today is 66 to 70 % black. He said it would be "very unusual to have an all-white jury."