''Peña-Rodriguez v. Colorado'', 580 U.S. ___ (2017), was a
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
decision holding that the
Sixth Amendment requires a
racial bias
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
exception to the
no-impeachment rule. According to two
jurors, a third juror made a number of biased statements about the defendant's
Mexican ethnicity, stating, "I think he did it because he’s Mexican and Mexican men take whatever they want."
[''Peña-Rodriguez'', slip op. at 4.] In a 5–3 vote, the Court held that, notwithstanding a state evidentiary rule, the trial court must be permitted to consider the two jurors' testimony.
Background
The case involved Miguel Angel Peña-Rodriguez, a
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
man accused of sexually assaulting two teenage girls in a restroom. During jury deliberations, Juror H.C. allegedly made a number of racially biased comments, stating, "Mexican men had a bravado that caused them to believe they could do whatever they wanted with women," and "nine times out of ten Mexican men were guilty of being aggressive toward women and young girls." Juror H.C. also stated that the defendant's alibi witness was not credible because the witness was "an illegal."
The jury found Peña-Rodriguez guilty of unlawful sexual contact and harassment, but after the jury was discharged, two jurors, M.M. and L.T., remained to speak with defense counsel in private. Both signed affidavits describing H.C.'s remarks.
On October 11, 2016, oral arguments were heard, where Professor
Jeffrey L. Fisher appeared for the accused, the Colorado Solicitor General appeared for that state, and an assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General appeared as a friend in support of the state.
Opinion of the Court
On March 6, 2017, the Supreme Court delivered judgment in favor of the accused, voting 5–3 to reverse and remand to the state court. Justice
Anthony Kennedy
Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirement in 2018. He was nominated to the court in 1987 by Presid ...
authored the majority opinion.
[''The Supreme Court, 2016 Term — Leading Cases'']
131 Harv. L. Rev. 273 (2017).
See also
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases
This page serves as an index of lists of United States Supreme Court cases. The United States Supreme Court is the highest federal court of the United States.
By Chief Justice
Court historians and other legal scholars consider each Chief J ...
*
References
External links
*
Case pageat
SCOTUSblog
''SCOTUSblog'' is a law blog written by lawyers, law professors, and law students about the Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes abbreviated "SCOTUS"). Formerly sponsored by Bloomberg Law, the site tracks cases before the Court from th ...
{{Sixth Amendment, impartial, state=expanded
2017 in United States case law
United States evidence case law
United States Sixth Amendment jury case law
United States Supreme Court cases
United States Supreme Court cases of the Roberts Court