Teen’s Murder Verdict Reversed
Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. —
The state Supreme Court today reversed the capital murder conviction of a teen-ager found guilty of stabbing three people to death.
Ronald Ward of West Memphis was 15 when he was sentenced to death in September, 1985. At the time, he was believed to be the youngest inmate on Death Row in the United States. The court found that the prosecutor’s eight peremptory challenges were used to strike blacks from the jury in violation of the Constitution’s equal protection clause.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
