Azania v. State

ON APPEAL FROM THE DENIAL OF SUCCESSIVE PETITION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF

BOEHM, Justice.

Zolo Agona Azania, formerly known as Rufus Averhart, was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. In this appeal from the denial of his second petition for post-conviction relief, Azania argues that his death sentence must be vacated because the jury that recommended imposition of the death penalty was the product of a system for jury pool selection that systematically and materially reduced participation of African-American jurors.

In an ordinary lawsuit we would not find the irregularities in the…