Michael Tisius v. David Vandergriff, Warden
AdministrativeLaw DueProcess HabeasCorpus
Did the Missouri Supreme Court's failure to enforce Missouri's mandatory exclusion from the jury of persons who cannot read or write violate Mr. Tisius's right to due process of law?
QUESTION PRESENTED Michael Tisius was sentenced by a Missouri jury that included an individual who was not qualified to serve under Missouri law. This juror was, and is still, illiterate. The juror concealed his illiteracy from the sentencing court by declining to honestly answer a question posed in voir dire and was assisted in doing so by a county official who read him the juror qualification form, filled in the juror’s answers for him, then concealed the fact that the juror had disclosed his illiteracy. The case presents the following question: 1. Did the Missouri Supreme Court’s failure to enforce Missouri’s mandatory exclusion from the jury of persons who cannot read or write violate Mr. Tisius’s right to due process of law? i