http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegio ... eid=131428

Alien juror casts doubt on slay conviction
By Jessica Fargen
Tuesday, March 21, 2006

A non-U.S. citizen who served as a juror on a first-degree murder trial - unbeknownst to lawyers or the judge until after the defendant was convicted - has thrown the validity of the verdict into doubt.

Michael Jackson, 21, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole for the 2002 Roxbury slaying of 25-year-old Jose Lane, said David Procopio, a spokesman for the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office.

But after the verdict, the judge on the case became suspicious that one juror was not a U.S. citizen.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Patrick Brady said he had misgivings about the juror when he spoke to the jury after the verdict and the juror asked the judge about immigration lawyers, Procopio said.

State law requires that jurors be U.S. citizens.

The juror later told Brady he lost his original jury duty questionnaire that asked whether he was a U.S. citizen and the second form he filled out at jury duty didn’t ask about citizenship, Procopio said.

“This is something that no one in the courtroom was in the position to prevent because of the mishap with the questionnaire,” Procopio said.

Jackson’s lawyer, Robert Wheeler Jr., was unavailable for comment.

The case will be automatically reviewed by the Supreme Judicial Court, as are all first-degree murder convictions.