NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Two black men who contested their criminal convictions after jurors deliberated in a Tennessee courtroom containing Confederate symbols received opposing rulings from different judges in the same courtroom. of appeals.
One was granted a new trial. The other was denied.
Conflicting decisions likely mean the matter will be appealed to the state Supreme Court to resolve the discrepancy.
Rulings by two three-judge panels of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals focus on trials held at the Giles County Courthouse, placing jurors in a room adorned with items maintained by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. , including an old Confederate flag and portraits of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Confederate General John C. Brown. In June, a state commission approved plans to move the artifacts to a museum, The Tennessee reported.
This week, a panel of judges ruled unanimously against a new trial for Barry Jamal Martin, who went on trial in February 2020, was convicted on drug charges and sentenced to 12 years in prison. The ruling says that none of the jurors testified “not even noticing or knowing that the memories were in the room.” The decision also called into question whether the average person would be able to recognize who was in the portraits or what the flag meant.
“Although we certainly do not condone the presence of the memorabilia in the jury room, we conclude that the defendant failed to show that any specific outside prejudicial information was improperly brought to the attention of the jury or was improperly applied to any juror ( or grand jury member). ),” Judge John Campbell Sr. wrote in the ruling.
Last December, three other judges on the court unanimously ruled that Tim Gilbert deserved a new trial on charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, unlawful possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and resisting arrest. His trial took place in March 2020 and he had been sentenced to six years in prison. The Tennessee Supreme Court refused to accept the state’s appeal in that case.
“Because Giles County may not convey any messages to the jury, we conclude that allowing the jury to deliberate in a room filled with Confederate memorabilia exposed the jury to extraneous information or improper outside influence,” Judge James Curwood Witt wrote. Jr. in December.
However, in this week’s ruling, the judicial panel reasoned that the earlier decision was not the kind that created a precedent that judges had to follow.
The same attorney, Evan P. Baddour, has represented both Martin and Gilbert.
Both cases included various other arguments by their lawyers against their convictions. In the Gilbert case, the judicial panel ruled that a new trial was also needed because the trial court erred in allowing a disputed witness statement.
The United Daughters of the Confederacy were first allowed to put their initials, UDC, on the door of the room in 1909 after helping to furnish the room with tables, chairs, and other items after a fire in the courthouse, the president of the local grand jury at the time. previously testified in court.
The Giles County Courthouse is in Pulaski, where the Ku Klux Klan was founded.
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