Oregon Supreme Court and Court of Appeals Reverse 19 Non-Unanimous Jury Convictions Following Ramos v. Louisiana Ruling

The Oregon Supreme Court and the state Court of Appeals announced on Thursday that they are returning 19 non-unanimous jury convictions to trial courts following the United States Supreme Court's April 20 ruling in Ramos v. Louisiana.

Of those 19 cases, the state Supreme Court reversed 16 and the Court of Appeals reversed three. Some of those 19 cases may be retried in trial courts. For others, the charges may be dropped completely. The course of action is up to the district attorney in the county where the conviction occurred.

For another five cases, the state Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Aug. 18 "to resolve questions not addressed" in the U.S. Supreme Court's Ramos ruling.

This is the first batch of cases the state has ruled on following the U.S. Supreme Court's April 20 verdict in Ramos v. Louisiana, which effectively overturned a provision of the Oregon Constitution that required just 10 or 11 jurors to vote to convict defendants for all felonies besides murder. Now, Oregon joins the other 49 states in requiring unanimous, 12-juror verdicts to convict.

The Oregon Department of Justice so far has identified 269 cases that are pending on appeal that may be overturned following Ramos. It is unclear what criteria the state has based its decision on in these cases, aside from the fact that the convictions resulted from non-unanimous verdicts.

The 19 cases announced today are the first batch that may be overturned following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling.