Jewell v. Boughton, No. 22-3082 (7th Cir. 2024)
Annotate this CaseIn 2015, DeShawn Harold Jewell was convicted of robbery by use of force and bail jumping, following a robbery outside a Milwaukee tavern. A DNA match from a hat left at the scene and a photo identification by the victim led to his arrest, but Jewell argued that the photo array procedure did not adhere to best practices. During deliberations, the jury asked the trial court if the numbering system of the photo array matched that of a photo "six-pack" shown at trial. The trial court, without consulting the parties, answered "No." The jury subsequently returned a guilty verdict. Jewell challenged this ex parte communication, arguing that it violated his Sixth Amendment rights. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction, concluding that the trial court's error was harmless. Jewell sought habeas relief under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the lower court's decision. The court reasoned that the Wisconsin Court of Appeals had not unreasonably applied Supreme Court precedent in its harmlessness analysis, and that the ex parte communication did not have a substantial and injurious effect on the jury’s verdict.
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