Claims of racism in jury won’t stop sentencing for convicted murderer

A judge has not officially ruled on whether racism played a role in the conviction of Jimmie McNear in the fatal shooting of Kantral Brooks and Ester Deneus during an armed home invasion but has ordered that sentencing will proceed.

On Nov. 9, after more than 14 hours of deliberations over the course of two days, McNear was found guilty of second-degree murder, manslaughter and armed burglary. He now faces between 20 years and life in prison.

Later that month, one of the jurors wrote to presiding Circuit Judge Diana Moreland, claiming racism had played a role during the deliberations, and that there was no way a black man could have gotten a fair trial by her fellow jurors.

On Wednesday that juror was questioned and the defense now has 10 days to file any follow up motions to conclude the interview process. Meanwhile, Moreland has reserved ruling on the allegations but has ordered the defense to reschedule the sentencing hearing.

McNear’s defense had sought to question the juror, and after hearing from both sides in court last month, Moreland ruled the juror would be questioned by both sides since the allegation was sufficient to raise concerns over a potential bias that could have influenced the verdict. She also canceled McNear’s sentencing hearing, which had been scheduled for Wednesday.

McNear’s two co-defendants have already been convicted and sentenced for the slayings of Brooks and Deneus on July 9. 2015. All three men had been facing the death penalty initially, after being indicted on first-degree murder charges.

Terez Jones, 35, took a deal in May and pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and armed burglary. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in exchange for testifying against McNear and Trey Nonnombre, which he later did at both trials.

Nonnombre, 20, was found guilty in September of two counts of first-degree murder and armed burglary. He was later sentenced in November to serve three life sentences.

This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 12:37 PM with the headline "Claims of racism in jury won’t stop sentencing for convicted murderer."