Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/450/953/
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 14:20:03+00:00

Document:
In 1972, respondent was tried in a Louisiana state court for possessing and distributing cocaine and heroin. Pursuant to the state law applicable at that time, the jury consisted of five members. La.Code Crim. Proc.Ann., Art. 782 (West 1967) (amended 1975). Respondent raised no objection to its size. The jury unanimously voted to convict respondent, and he was sentenced to a prison term.
six-member jury. Cf. Apodaca v. Oregon, 406 U.S. 404, 32 L. Ed.2d 184 (1972); Johnson v. Louisiana, 406 U.S. 356, 32 L. Ed.2d 152 (1972).
Soon thereafter, in Brown v. Louisiana, 447 U.S. 323 (1980), the Court applied Burch retroactively to reverse a conviction reached by a nonunanimous six-member jury. The Court divided three ways in Brown, and it is essential for our present purposes to identify the divergent views. Justice BRENNAN wrote for a plurality of four Justices and concluded that any conviction reached by a nonunanimous six-member jury should be reversed. Two other Justices concurred in the result, stating that Burch should be applied retroactively only to cases pending on direct review at the time Burch was decided. 447 U.S., at 337 (POWELL, J., with whom STEVENS, J., joined), quoting Hankerson v. North Carolina, 432 U.S. 233, 248, 2348, 53 L. Ed.2d 306 (1977) (POWELL, J., concurring in judgment). Three Justices dissented, arguing against any retroactive application of the new rule, because there was no " 'substantial likelihood' " that a 5-to-1 jury reached a result that was " 'factually incorrect.' " 447 U.S., at 338 (REHNQUIST, J., with whom BURGER, C. J., and WHITE, J., joined), quoting Williams v. United States, 401 U.S. 646, 656, n.7, 91 S. Ct. 1148, 1154, n.7 (1971).
The present case involves a conviction rendered by a unanimous five- member jury. If the case now were to be tried, it is plain in light of Ballew that such a jury is not of constitutionally adequate size. But this case was tried in 1972-more than six years before Ballew -and it is now before us on collateral review. The retroactivity analysis of the plurality in Brown v. Louisiana thus is not controlling. Instead, the governing position is that represented by the combined views of the other five Justices in Brown. Because the Court of Appeals in this case improperly relied on the reasoning of the Brown plurality to apply Ballew retroactively, I would grant certiorari and reverse its judgment.
Footnote 1 Respondent did not take a direct appeal from his conviction. He exhausted his state remedies by seeking state collateral relief, relying for the first time on his jury-composition claim. The state trial court did not address respondent's failure to enter a contemporaneous objection to the five-member jury. Its denial of relief thus was on the merits. App. to Pet. for Cert. 34a. The Louisiana Supreme Court denied review. State ex rel. Thomas v. Blackburn, 361 So.2d 1218 (1978).
Footnote 2 Respondent failed to object at trial to the size of his jury. N. 1, supra. The Court of Appeals correctly disregarded this procedural default and reached the merits of respondent's petition because the state trial court on collateral review had ruled upon the merits, see ibid. County Court of Ulster v. Allen, 442 U.S. 140, 152-153, 154, 2222, 2223 (1979); Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 161- 162, 2679-2680 (1978).
Footnote 3 The State is greatly disadvantaged when a conviction, long thought to be final, is reversed on collateral review. The State's opportunity to hold a retrial under these circumstances may be only theoretical. Witnesses disappear and memories fade with the passage of time. See Hankerson v. North Carolina, 432 U.S. 233, 247, 2347, 53 L. Ed.2d 306 (1977) (POWELL, J., concurring in judgment).

References: Art. 782
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