USA - Louisiana. Louisiana's Supreme Court has ruled that Eric Dale Mickelson is entitled to a new trial

Louisiana's Supreme Court has ruled 4-3 that Eric Dale Mickelson is entitled to a new trial because of an error during jury selection. The court's opinion said there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction of Mickelson, 45, White, in the death of Charles Martin, 86, who was killed in 2007. However, the court said the judge should have excused a potential juror who said he would not consider arguments that a killer's drug use could be a mitigating circumstance that might merit a life sentence instead of the death penalty. The judge's refusal forced the defense to use one of its limited number of juror rejections. Mickelson was sentenced to death on August 10, 2011 (see).