SALEM, Ore. – The Oregon Supreme Court ruled that the requirement for unanimous jury verdicts in serious criminal cases applies to both older cases and those still on appeal.
The decision affects hundreds of convictions and the Oregon Department of Justice will reportedly work to implement it.
The ruling applies to cases where a criminal conviction was final and appeals, if any, were completed before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Ramos decision in April 2020.
In response to the Oregon Supreme Court’s decision, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said, “It has been a long and winding road to get here. I am very grateful to both of our state appellate courts for expediting this important issue of retroactivity of the Ramos ruling. It was a critical piece of this complex process of undoing a rule that should never have been enacted in the first place—now nearly 90 years ago. I stand committed to eradicating inequities and ensuring fairness and impartiality in the delivery of justice in our state.”
More information on the opinion can be found here.
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