ORLANDO, Fla. — A Central Florida attorney claims attorneys working for the city of Orlando intentionally struck African-Americans from serving as jurors based on nothing more than their race.
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That attorney is suing the city and those lawyers claiming they violated his constitutional rights when he was making a claim against the city.
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This all started when he was suing the city, after he was involved in a car crash with a city vehicle.
Carlus Haynes is African-American and said it was obvious to him they were striking Black jurors based on nothing more than their race.
Haynes still remembers the crash in 2010. It was on South Street near Crystal Lake Drive.
He said a city truck struck his car as he headed to work.
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“I sustained some injuries to my back on a pretty significant disc herniation,” Haynes said. Haynes sued the city for bodily injury.
During that trial, he said the assistant city attorney and another attorney working for the city employed discriminatory tactics when narrowing down the jurors by intentionally striking African-American jurors based on race, without a genuine race-neutral reason for doing so.
The attorney representing Haynes is also Black.
“If the attorney is a minority, or they’re representing a minority, the other side feels that it’s best to exclude minorities of their jury,” Haynes said.
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That’s what Haynes said he’s experienced while practicing law, then saw it in his own case.
He lost his case the first time, but his attorney filed an appeal and the court granted him a retrial based on what happened during jury selection.
The 5th District Court of Appeal affirmed that decision, granting a new trial.
Now Haynes is suing the City of Orlando again, along with the attorneys involved claiming this was a violation of his constitutional rights of due process and equal protection under the law.
Haynes hopes if they win, this will send a message to attorneys to stop discriminating against jurors.
Due to pending litigation, the city said it can’t comment on specifics, but believes the allegations are unfounded and the claim without merit.
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