U.S. law requires jury pools to represent a fair cross section of the community. Yet people of color are less likely to make it into the jury pool compared to white residents, even though most defendants are people of color. It's a decades-old issue that has defied solutions.
Renard Carter pleaded guilty Thursday in Olmsted County District Court to two charges of second-degree murder and second-degree murder of an unborn child.
Kaleb Smith was sentenced Thursday to 120 months in state prison, which he will serve while receiving mental health treatment while committed the Commissioner of the Department of Human Services.
The Olmsted County Attorney's Office said in a motion that Sterlin Haukom admitted to consuming 15 drinks and pressing on the gas pedal for 14 seconds before the Feb. 24, 2021, crash.
The continued suspension of district court trials comes two weeks before Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Lorie Gildea's November order was set to expire.
