Judge David N

Judge David N. Savitt ordered a new trial for William Basemore, saying the prosecutor engaged in a pattern of racial discrimination during jury selection. Judge David N. Savitt said the jury selection process "fatally" prejudiced the trial against William Basemore, who was convicted of the 1986 stabbing death of a security guard during a restaurant robbery. The prosecutor in the case used preemptory challenges to eliminate 19 potential jurors, all of whom were black.