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The Case of Doug DiLosa and Chris Pourciau on Amendment 2
📻 Episode #76
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Oct 22, 2018
About This Episode
In forty-eight other states and in federal courts across the country, a conviction requires a unanimous vote – all jurors must agree on whether a prosecutor has met the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Louisiana is the only state where someone can be sentenced to life without parole without a unanimous decision…
The Case
In forty-eight other states and in federal courts across the country, a conviction requires a unanimous vote – all jurors must agree on whether a prosecutor has met the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Louisiana is the only state where someone can be sentenced to life without parole without a unanimous decision of a jury. Non-unanimous juries allow conviction even where two citizens have reasonable doubts about the evidence. They are, as a result, unreliable. More than forty percent of all those who have been recently exonerated were (mistakenly) found guilty by non-unanimous juries. On November 6th, 2018, Louisiana voters will have a chance to change that. Amendment 2, a ballot initiative, would require unanimous agreement by jurors for all felony trials. Jason Flom is joined by Doug DiLosa of Rising Foundation and Chris Pourciau the Deputy Director of the Unanimous Jury Coalition, through the Promise of Justice Initiative. Doug DiLosa is himself a victim of non-unanimous jury. He was wrongfully convicted of second-degree murder in 1987 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole with less than a unanimous consensus of his guilt. Based on the information and evidence Doug was able to gather on his case, in 2000 the Federal Court reversed his conviction and he was released from prison in January of 2001. For more information about his case please listen to Doug DiLosa’s first interview on Wrongful Conviction in Season 1.
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom
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In Their Own Words — transcript excerpts
Short excerpts from the episode's official published transcript, with timestamps — listen from these moments, or read the full transcript via the podcast's own platforms.
00:04:42“Speaker 1: killed his wife. Because the circumstances of your case are Speaker 1: as crazy as any I've heard, and I've heard hundreds Speaker 1: of them. So and Chris, let's turn to you, because Speaker 1: Chris is the deputy director of the Unanimous Jury Coalition, Speaker 1: and you've had a lot of experience in trying to”
00:19:49“Speaker 1: we've been you know, we've told your story in great Speaker 1: detail on this show. I believe, you know, one of Speaker 1: the most powerful and disturbing episodes that we've ever done, Speaker 1: h is the episode we did with you. And yeah, Speaker 1: so I hope people will take the time to go”
00:33:18“Speaker 5: to understand The actual amendment says, do you support an Speaker 5: amendment to require a unanimous jury verdict in all non Speaker 5: capital felony cases for offenses that are committed on or Speaker 5: after January first, twenty nineteen. So that is the exact Speaker 5: language of it.”
Listen to the Episode
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