Nevada prosecutor asks state Supreme Court to reconsider 2019 decision in black man's conviction

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LAS VEGAS — A prosecutor in Nevada is asking the state Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to throw out the 2019 conviction of a Black man due to "harmful racial stereotypes" expressed to prospective jurors by the defendant’s attorney.

Elko County District Attorney Tyler Ingram filed the request Monday in the case of Sean Maurice Dean, saying evidence that Dean stabbed two people was overwhelming and that jurors would have convicted him anyway.

"This petition should not be construed as excusing or condoning (Dean’s trial attorney’s) racial comments" during pretrial questioning of prospective jurors, the prosecutor said. "The state agrees that (the) comments were reprehensible, but the state respectfully submits that Dean would have been convicted of the offenses irrespective of the comments."

Dean, 55, is serving 12 to 31 years in prison after being found guilty of attempted murder and battery with a deadly weapon. The state high court on Jan. 13 granted him a new trial.

Ingram said Wednesday a new trial is still a possibility.

Dean’s trial attorney, Gary Woodbury, declined to comment Wednesday about the new filing with the state high court.

Woodbury, who is white, has been a lawyer in Nevada for 45 years. He declined to comment about the Supreme Court ruling after it was issued.

A trio of state high court justices characterized Woodbury’s trial representation of Dean as ineffective, saying his questioning of prospective jurors about their racial attitudes "tainted the jury pool by introducing racial invective into the proceedings."

"Counsel insisted that the prospective jurors must have heard that all African Americans ‘like watermelon’ or ‘have an attribute of violence, that they are sneaky,’" the justices said, adding that it didn’t matter if Woodbury believed the stereotypes himself.

"Bringing such racial invective into the courtroom cannot be justified," the court said.

Dean, who had previous felony convictions, was found guilty of stabbing Bert "Duff" Minter and Denise Minter, a divorced couple, during a fight at Denise Minter’s trailer home.

No member of the prospective jury appeared to be African American, Elko County District Court Judge Alvin Kacin noted in an April 2020 order that denied Dean a new trial.

Supreme Court also faulted the judge for not telling Woodbury outside the presence of prospective jurors to change his line of questioning.

Kacin responded to messages by saying he could not comment on a pending case.