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Tony Egbuna Ford |
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Petition on his case |
Petizione sul suo caso |
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CLAIM ELEVEN JURY MISCONDUCT DEPRIVED MR. FORD OF BOTH DUE PROCESS OF LAW AND THE SIXTH AMENDMENT RIGHT TO CONFRONT THE EVIDENCE USED AGAINST HIM IN OPEN COURT.
A. Basis for the Claim In addition to the misconduct alleged in Claim Eleven, there was additional jury misconduct in the case. One of the jurors, a Ms. Aguilar, called a state district judge, Judge Jose Baca to discuss a telephone call she had received. [SF Vol. X p. 1]. 1 After finding Mr. Ford guilty, Ms. Aguilar received four obscene phone calls over the weekend before the punishment phase was to start. Id. The caller told Ms. Aguilar that his name was Tony. Though Ms. Aguilar assured the Court that she could be fair, and though Judge Moody assured her that Mr. Ford could not have made the telephone call, another juror, a Mr. Carnagey, informed the Court that Ms. Aguilar had already told the other jurors of the incident. For the same reasons set forth in Claim Eleven, Mr. Ford is entitled to a new trial. B. State Court Proceedings This claim was not presented to the State courts. 1Judge Baca was originally assigned to hear this case. During the middle of voir dire, the prosecution moved to recuse him from the case. That recusal motion was denied. Judge Baca, however, removed himself from the case for reasons of health and Judge William Moody finished the trial. |