Two convicted murderers are seeking a new trial based on prosecutors’ bias.
Convicted of the 1994 murder of 32-year-old Brinks truck driver Jeffrey Spencer, Keelon Jenkins and Robert McDaniels were granted a new hearing Feb. 26 to determine if they should receive a new trial. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, their defense lawyers claim the prosecutors showed bias toward prospective Black jurors in their original trial.
The U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit in San Francisco ordered a hearing before an 11-judge panel after a three-judge panel of the same court had upheld the decision of state and federal judges to reject claims that the prosecutors’ removal of seven of 10 African-Americans on the original Alameda County jury panel was based on racial bias.
Defense lawyers argue that prosecutors asked all prospective Black jurors whether they sympathized with Jenkins and McDaniels, who are also Black, but asked the same question to only a few white jurors.
Jenkins and McDaniels, who admitted their roles in the murder of the Brinks truck driver during a plot to steal $86,000, were both convicted of first-degree murder. Jenkins is currently serving a sentence of life without parole and McDaniels 25 years to life.
The men contend that a third man assured them the armored car driver was in on the plot and was supposed to hand over the money. They are seeking a new trial in the hope that their argument will result in a lesser conviction of second-degree murder, which carries a reduced sentence.