Ward v. State

Darrell Hickman, Justice.

An all white Crittenden County jury convicted Ronald Ward, a 15 year old black male, of murdering three white people and sentenced him to death. All of the peremptory challenges exercised by the prosecuting attorney, eight in this case, were used to strike black people from the jury. We find the state’s use of the peremptory challenge violated the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution and denied Ward a fair trial. Therefore, the judgment is reversed and the case remanded for a new trial. Numerous other errors are alleged, and we will address those…