Reasonable Doubt: Two jurors voted not to convict him. He’s still in prison 24 years later.

Al Jazeera, October 19, 2021: Reasonable Doubt: Two jurors voted not to convict him. He’s still in prison 24 years later.

“On a summer night in 1996, two people robbed an Applebee’s restaurant in northwestern Louisiana in the United States. The masked robbers held a manager and two workers at gunpoint and stole about $6,500 in cash and some gift certificates.

Police accused Brandon Jackson - 24 years old at the time - of armed robbery. His trial was the following year. Brandon has always maintained his innocence.

When a jury of 12 delivered its verdict in 1997, two jurors said Brandon was not guilty - but he was convicted. At the time, jury decisions in Louisiana did not have to be unanimous for felony convictions. Only 10 out of 12 had to agree.

Twenty-four years later, Brandon is still in prison.”

Additional reading:

NPR, October 21, 2021: Louisiana man, in prison on a Jim Crow conviction, gets a new hearing

NPR, October 19, 2021: The History And Impact Of Non-Unanimous Jury Decisions