CNN
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The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday the resentencing of two death row inmates. The decision comes as part of an ongoing review of dozens of death penalty cases to determine whether prosecutors intentionally excluded black and Jewish jurors in those cases.
Ernest Dykes, the “lead case that sparked the review,” is one of the inmates being resentenced, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price said at a news conference Tuesday. He is scheduled to be released on parole next year, the district attorney said.
Dykes was sentenced to death in 1995 for murdering then-9-year-old Lance Clark during a 1993 robbery in Oakland, California. Dykes admitted to the robbery and shooting but denied it was premeditated, Price said.
While preparing his appeal, an Alameda County assistant district attorney found handwritten notes about potential jurors from the 1990s trial – notes that “clearly indicate that black and Jewish jurors … were persecuted and excluded from the jury that ultimately convicted and sentenced Mr. Dykes to death,” Price said.
By law, prosecutors may not exclude jurors based on their race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation.
CNN previously published images of notes believed to have been written by prosecutors during Dykes’ trial. In those notes, the racial identity of black potential jurors – and only black potential jurors – was marked. “Must go” was written next to one black man’s name; another juror had the word “Jewish” underlined on the questionnaire. Further down, a handwritten note reads: “I liked him better than any other Jew. But no way.”
“In the context of the evidence and other cases … it became clear that there may have been a pattern and practice of this type of prosecutorial misconduct in other cases,” Price said.
Federal Judge Vince Chhabria ordered prosecutors to review death penalty cases dating back to the mid-1980s after learning of the notes. Those cases include convicted mass shooters, serial killers, rapists and murderers.
“I’m almost at a loss for words,” Lance Clark’s sister – who asked not to have her name published – told CNN after the announcement of his impending release. “Our system has truly done our family a disservice.”
Price also announced plans Tuesday to re-sentence Keith Thomas, whose first conviction came in 1997. Before the sentences can be changed, a judge must approve the re-sentencing requests.
“Mr. Thomas will receive a sentence of 23 years to life in prison, having already served 31 years. So he is eligible for parole … and possibly release,” Price said.
Thomas was sentenced to death for kidnapping, raping and murdering Francia Young, a 25-year-old woman on her way home from work. “The racist imagery and stereotypes used throughout the trial, from the opening statement to the sentencing, essentially undermined the integrity of this verdict,” Price said.
The public prosecutor’s office is currently examining 56 cases in which the death penalty was imposed.
“In 40 of 56 death penalty cases since 1978, or about 70%, jury selection records are missing,” she said. “There may well have been attempts to purge the records. We intend to investigate.”
So far, prosecutors have found evidence of racial profiling of jurors dating back to 2015 and identified seven prosecutors who may have been involved. “In addition to violating the Constitution,” Price said last month, “their conduct may have been criminal.” One of the seven still works at the district attorney’s office but now has a “superior,” according to Price. Another is currently a judge in Alameda County and another was just appointed as a judge in nearby Contra Costa County.
Price, who took office last year, had previously said she believed racial discrimination against jurors may have been widespread and well-known under her predecessors in the department. For example, John Quatman, a former assistant district attorney, testified during an appeal of a death sentence in 2003 that a judge “said I couldn’t have a Jew on the jury.” He continued: “It was common practice to exclude Jewish jurors in capital cases, just as it was common practice to exclude African-American women from juries in capital cases.”
Studies have also found patterns of racial bias in jury selection from California and Washington to Connecticut and New York, as well as the Deep South.
On Tuesday, Price, on behalf of the prosecutor’s office, apologized to the families of victims Clark and Young for the misconduct. She also apologized “to the African-American community of Alameda County, to the Jewish community, to the LGBTQ+ community, who have also been denied their constitutional rights.”
