The 1991 first-degree murder conviction of a Houston man who was
sentenced to life in prsion for the beating death of a Bossier City man
has been reversed. But Tuesday's decision by U.S. Magistrate Judge Roy
S. Payne doesn't mean James Crandell will automatically be set free.
Payne conditioned Crandell's release upon the state's plans to seek a
new indictment against him. Bossier-Webster Parish District Attorney
Schuyler Marvin already has plans to present Crandell's case to a
Bossier Parish grand jury Sept. 7. Crandell's reversal was based upon a
successful challenge to the manner in which grand jury foremen had been
selected, specifically the exclusion of blacks as jury foremen within
20 or more years preceding Crandell's indictment. The long-standing
rule in Louisiana was for the presiding judge to hand pick the foreman
from the selected jury, sometimes using information gleaned from other
court personnel on who would best be in charge of the special panel. In
his ruling, Payne noted that Bossier Parish's "mere 20 percent black
population" does not provide a "legal excuse for (zero) black foremen
of 50 chosen."[more ]
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