Confederate Memorabilia Wins Black Man a New Trial in Tennessee

A Tennessee appeals court has unanimously ruled Tim Gilbert, a Black man convicted of aggravated assault and other charges by an all-white jury should get a new trial, saying that prosecutors failed to rebut a claim made by defense lawyers that the room where the jury deliberated was prejudicial to the man, reports the New York Times. The deliberation room featured a portrait of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, in a gold-colored frame, as well as other Confederate memorabilia.

Gilbert’s lawyer argued that having both the grand jury and the trial jury deliberate in the “inherently prejudicial” room — which had been named after the United Daughters of the Confederacy — violated his right to a fair trial, an impartial jury, due process and equal protection. The three-judge appeals court agreed and reversed a 2020 lower court ruling that denied Gilbert’s request for a new trial. Valena Beety, a law professor and deputy director of the Academy for Justice at Arizona State University, said that courts were now more aware of how bias could be introduced into the criminal justice system and are more eager to try to stamp it out.