Provocative Prosecutor Causes Juror to Walk - Juror replaced after saying that racial slur offended him
/A juror was excused Wednesday on the second day of a federal drug conspiracy trial in Nashville after saying that the defendants’ racially derogatory language, as quoted by the prosecutor, offended him.
In the prosecution’s opening statements, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sunny A.M. Koshy quoted the three black defendants’ use of the racial expletive among themselves. A black juror brought it to the court’s attention that the language used offended him to the point that he could no longer be a fair juror.
“It just made me cringe, and I knew there was no way I could move past that,” the juror said.
He was replaced with an alternate juror.
The trial continued in U.S. District Court with the defense’s opening statements. Travis Gentry, Frank Randolph and Patrick Smith have various charges against them, including facilitation of a drug conspiracy, intent to distribute drugs and money laundering.
Gentry’s lawyer, Barry Tidwell, said the prosecution’s evidence hinges on incredible witnesses, such as informant Josh Harvey, who faced a drug charge before he cooperated with the government, and Gentry’s ex-girlfriend, Amber Stack.
John S. Colley III, Randolph’s lawyer, said his client held two full-time jobs.
“All this money that the U.S. government is going to jump up and down about, saying it’s drug money, was earned the same way we all earn it — legally,” Colley said.
“The proof is going to show that (Smith and Gentry) were friends,” Hawkins said. “They partied together, did drugs together and got drugs for each other. But the proof will not show that they intended to distribute over five kilos of cocaine.”
The government’s first witness, Giles County narcotics investigator Michael Thomason, told jurors that the informant agreed to cooperate with the government after he was caught with 75 methadone pills.
“I didn’t want to get charged with a crime because I was told it would affect me having my daughter,” Harvey told Tidwell during cross-examination.
