The California Supreme Court is asking the
attorney general's office to explain why a convicted murderer's death
sentence shouldn't be reversed based on allegations that a now-deceased
Alameda County judge colluded with prosecutors to ensure a capi-tal
conviction by keeping Jews off the jury. The court on Wednesday issued
an order to show cause based on defense lawyers' claims that convicted
murderer Fred Freeman's 1987 trial was tainted when then-Superior Court
Judge Stanley Golde allegedly told prosecutors to keep Jews off the
jury because they would never vote to send someone to the gas chamber.
Freeman's lawyers contend that John Quatman, who prosecuted the case as
an Alameda County deputy district attorney, followed the judge's
advice. They say he also has acknowledged in a declaration that the
office's "standard practice" at the time was to exclude black women
from capital case juries. [more]
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