MA Appellate Practice And Procedure Bulletin November 2022

Legal Ether and Our Children's Children

This week the U. S. Supreme Court turned down a case seeking to overturn the truly questionable 1970 decision in Williams v. Florida where it was held that the constitutional right to a jury trial does not require a jury of 12. Justices Kavanagh and Gorsuch would have taken the case for review with Justice Gorsuch issuing a compelling dissent succinctly dismantling the Williams holding:

The case, Khorrami v. Arizona, was a criminal case in which the defendant was convicted of serious crimes by an 8-member jury. The defendant challenged the conviction seeking reversal of the Williams holding and contending that the Sixth and Twelve Amendments to the U.S. Constitution guarantees a right to a jury of 12. The Arizona Supreme Court