No. 21-5890

Christopher W. Terrell v. Arkansas

Lower Court: Arkansas
Docketed: 2021-10-05
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: criminal-conviction due-process fair-trial impartiality jury-impartiality jury-misconduct sixth-amendment trial-fairness
Key Terms:
DueProcess HabeasCorpus Privacy JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2021-12-03
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Is a criminal conviction unconstitutional and in violation of Due Process when a jury does not remain impartial on the question of guilt for the crime charged?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

No question identified. : ¥ 1. Is a criminal conviction unconstitutional and in violation of Due Process when a jury does not remain impartial on the question of guilt for the crime charged? 2. Is it inherently prejudicial to a defendant for a jury not to follow the court’s instructions and conscientiously apply the law as charged by the court? 3. When a jury considers a matter not admitted into evidence to convict the defendant, can a state court use a rule of evidence to save the conviction and . deny the defendant his right to a fair, lawful and impartial trial? ; 4. Is it considered an outside influence on a jury’s deliberations for a jury to use an uninstructed theory of law as the motivating factor in the jury’s vote to convict? . 5. Does the Sixth Amendment require that the no-impeachment rule give way to permit the consideration of jury misconduct evidence of a resulting denial of the jury trial guarantee which cast serious doubt on the fairness and impartiality of the jury’s deliberations and resulting verdict? 6. Since the jury misconduct of Terrell’s murder trial is unprecedented to the United States history of case law, can that misconduct remain beyond : effective examination even though that examination would unquestionably adduce evidence sufficient to provide a substantive ground to set aside the verdict? : : 7. Is it inconsistent with justice and setting a dangerous precedent for a state to uphold a conviction where jurors have admitted that they were unable to find that the only defendant charged and on trial did in fact commit the essential element that would constitute the crime charged? ii ~? :

Docket Entries

2021-12-06
Petition DENIED.
2021-11-10
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/3/2021.
2021-11-04
Waiver of right of respondent Arkansas to respond filed.
2021-09-21
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due November 4, 2021)

Attorneys

Arkansas
Michael Anthony CantrellOffice of the Arkansas Attorney General, Respondent
Christopher W. Terrell
Christopher W. Terrell — Petitioner