California Supreme Court Overturns Murder Verdict, Cites Juror Removal Error

The California Supreme Court has overturned the murder conviction and death sentence of Timothy Joseph McGhee. The court has ruled that a trial judge wrongly removed a juror during deliberations.

In a unanimous decision announced on Thursday, the court said the juror’s dismissal was not accompanied by clear evidence.

The ruling vacates McGhee’s conviction on three counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder tied to gang-related shootings in Long Angeles between the years 1997 and 2001.

“We hold that the trial court erred in removing [the juror] from the jury during guilt phase deliberations and that the error requires reversal of the judgment,” Associate Justice Goodwin Liu wrote.

McGhee, who is now 51, was arrested in 2003 and later convicted by a Los Angeles County jury. According to prosecutors, he was a senior member of the Toonerville gang and had links to five shootings. He had been on death row for more than 15 years. According to The Court House News, the main concern in the ruling was the removal of a juror after deliberations had already begun.

Jurors had sent a note to the judge raising concerns about the fellow juror. They claimed the juror relied on speculation and believed the prosecution witnesses were lying.

The judge then questioned jurors separately, one by one. Some said the juror showed bias against the police. Meanwhile, others disagreed. Overruling the objections from the defence, the judge dismissed the juror and replaced him with an alternate. The reformed jury later returned a guilty verdict.

The Supreme Court said that the decision was flawed. Liu wrote that removing a juror is a delicate matter. It must be backed by strong evidence. He said the record did not support claims that the juror refused to deliberate or showed clear bias.

In fact, most jurors said the dismissed member had taken part in about 10 hours of discussion. He had also explained why he doubted some witness accounts.

The ruling pointed to problems with witness credibility during the trial. Some witnesses were gang members or had criminal records. Others admitted they were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the events. Regarding this, Liu wrote, “Proving that McGhee was the shooter… depended on…witnesses…and there was evidence calling into question those witnesses.” he also highlighted the claims that some witnesses received favourable treatment from police.