STATE v. HICKS (2024)

Writ application granted. See per curiam.

Writ granted. The United States Supreme Court determined in Ramos v. Louisiana, 590 U.S. ––––, 140 S.Ct. 1390, 206 L.Ed.2d 583 (2020), that the Sixth Amendment right to jury trial, as incorporated against the States by way of the Fourteenth Amendment, requires a unanimous verdict to convict a defendant of a serious offense. Here, in a trial conducted after Ramos was decided, the district court instructed jurors that they could reach a verdict by 10-2 vote. However, jurors were not polled and it is not known whether the verdict was unanimous. The erroneous jury instruction alone does not constitute a structural error and defendant must show he suffered harm from it before the conviction will be reversed. See generally State v. Hongo, 96-2060, p. 4 (La. 12/02/97), 706 So.2d 419, 421; see also Weaver v. Massachusetts, 582 U.S. 286, 137 S.Ct. 1899, 198 L.Ed.2d 420 (2017). Accordingly, we grant the State's application and reverse the court of appeal's decision, which set aside the jury's verdict and remanded for a new trial. We reinstate the verdict and remand to the district court, which is ordered to conduct further proceedings to ascertain whether the verdict was unanimous. See generally State v. Norman, 2020-109 (La. 7/2/20), 297 So.3d 738 (per curiam). Thereafter, if the trial court finds no error or that any error was harmless, defendant can appeal that ruling.

REVERSED AND REMANDED

I respectfully dissent and would affirm the court of appeal's decision to order a new trial. More than one year after the United States Supreme Court declared non-unanimous juries unconstitutional in a highly publicized opinion, Ramos v. Louisiana, 590 U.S. __, 140 S. Ct. 1390 (2020); the trial court in this matter instructed the jury that only ten votes were required to reach a verdict. Jury unanimity is a bedrock principle of our federal and state constitutions. Id., La. Const. art. I § 17. It is therefore imperative to zealously guard against errors of this magnitude – inadvertent or otherwise.

Griffin, J., dissents and assigns reasons.