A man convicted of two of the most high-profile murders in recent history may receive a new trial if the Colorado Supreme Court agrees that racial bias in jury selection or improper evidence were factors in the 2008 trial of Sir Mario Owens.
The Colorado Supreme Court will likely wait until next year before deciding whether to make it more difficult for attorneys to dismiss people of color from criminal jury trials for reasons that, while not explicitly racial, may still correlate with their race.
In February, the Colorado Supreme Court held a lengthy public hearing on a proposed rule change that would make it more difficult to remove jurors of color from criminal trials for reasons that, while not explicitly racial, may still correlate with their race.
The Jury Selection Work Group appointed by the California Supreme Court in 2020 to study issues related to discrimination in jury selection has issued its final report.