The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "juror bias" ...
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Small Town Justice
A Haitian truck driver, Jean Claude Meus, was convicted of vehicular homicide after a semi he was driving turned over and fell on a minivan, killing a mother and daughter. While no drugs or alcohol were present in his system at the time of the accident, prosecutors were able to push a conviction based on their assertion that he had fallen asleep at the wheel, and was thus driving recklessly. But WTVT-TV investigators "found convincing evidence that (he) did not fall asleep, and in fact, was trying to avoid an accident." An off-duty firefighter was a witness at the scene, and asserted that Meus was "alert and helpful immediately after the crash." Yet the lead investigator, who attended high school with victim Nona Moore, never interview Juan Otero, the off-duty firefighter. With the help of experts, WTVT reconstructed the crash, and the conclusion drawn was that Meus had turned off the road to avoid an obstruction. Further, WTVT spoke with jurors who said that with that new evidence, they would not have voted to convict.
Tags: Unfair trials; Florida Highway Patrol; quick convictions; crash reconstruction; juror bias; investigator bias; racial profiling; all-white jury
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Deadly Decisions
"Deadly Decisions" examines how capital juries unlawfully sentence people to death --including people who are innocent -- as a result of racial bias or misunderstandings of the law. In two cases, documented in this report, defendants in Virginia were executed because judges refused to clarify juror's questions about parole.
Tags: bias jurors; capital cases; racial profiling; wrong sentencing; RADIO; CD; transcript; database mapping project
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No title (id: 13833)
The Palm Beach Post explains how a poor, small-time drug dealer with no criminal record was wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. A jury convicted Kevin Coleman of murder in 1992 due to critical errors in trial strategy and a reluctance among eyewitnesses to name the real killer. The series uncovered sloppy police work, incompetent attorneys, reluctant witnesses, biased jurors and reasonable doubt that he is a killer. (April 13-14, 1996)
Tags: Stapleton Ellicott Kalajian Tuckwood Justice denied Contest entry Law Courts 20 pgs.