A federal judge has mandated that the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office in California either retry Curtis Lee Ervin, a 71-year-old man who has spent 33 years on death row, or release him within 60 days.
This decision comes after accusations of prosecutorial misconduct during Ervin’s original trial, specifically regarding jury selection practices that violated constitutional rights.
Ervin was convicted in 1991 for the murder of Carlene McDonald in a 1986 murder-for-hire plot. The case’s controversy centers on the exclusion of Black jurors, a practice that California Attorney General Rob Bonta asserts was prevalent among Alameda County prosecutors from the 1980s through the early 2000s.
These exclusions, based on race and potentially religion, constitute Batson violations, infringing on the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
District Attorney Pamela Price acknowledged that a current prosecution team discovered evidence showing previous deputy district attorneys intentionally excluded Black and Jewish jurors.
This evidence was found in boxes containing notes with racial markings next to the names of potential jurors.
Brian Pomerantz, an attorney involved in reviewing several cases, including Ervin’s, described the discovered notes as “affirmative evidence of the prosecution’s fixation with the jurors’ race.” Such practices are illegal and have significant implications for the integrity of the justice system.
Pamala Sayasane, Ervin’s attorney, expressed her client’s reaction to the court’s order:
“He’s been incarcerated for 38 years. He’s grateful to everyone who helped him. I’m in a daze, as is my client.”
The District Attorney’s Office has until September 30 to decide whether to retry Ervin or release him.
This case highlights ongoing issues of racial discrimination in jury selection and raises questions about the fairness and impartiality of the criminal justice system.
