Commission hears competing counts of incarcerated people convicted by non‑unanimous juries; orders cross‑check for Feb. 1 report

A legislative commission tasked with determining how many people in Louisiana remain incarcerated for convictions returned by non‑unanimous juries heard competing data updates on Jan. 16 and voted to cross‑reference both datasets in a report due Feb. 1.

Chair Senator DuPlessis opened the meeting by saying the commission’s narrow purpose is "to agree on the size of the problem," noting the report deadline and the legislature’s return on March 9. The Promise of Justice Initiative, represented in the record by "Claude," told the panel it had sent applications to incarcerated people and brought "four boxes" of documentation and verification, and "We counted about 820 individuals that are incarcerated with non unanimous jury verdicts that remain incarcerated," the representative said.

The Louisiana District Attorneys Association (LDAA), represented on the record by Zach Daniels, gave a different preliminary total. Daniels said LDAA’s outreach to offices that maintained post‑conviction relief records produced "847 verifiable cases" from roughly 21% of parishes that reported keeping Ramos/PCR lists, and described a multi‑phase verification plan that will require manual review of trial and appellate records before cases can be confirmed.

Commission members and presenters emphasized the methodological differences between datasets. Daniels warned that a list of "filings" can include cases that, on closer inspection, reflect unanimous verdicts or procedural entries; PJI and Daniels agreed that additional manual spot‑checking of court records is necessary to verify which filings represent confirmed non‑unanimous convictions. Daniels described the work as time‑consuming and said completing the full verification by Feb. 1 was unlikely.

Public commenters and advocacy groups framed the human and policy stakes. Bruce Riley of Voters Organized to Educate summarized an independent 723‑person aggregate sample and said about 64% of that sample were serving life sentences while a majority were older than 45, arguing the state faces rising costs for long‑term incarceration. Rose Preston of Crime Survivors NOLA asked the commission to plan supports for victims who may be retraumatized by any review process.

Commissioner Snowden highlighted deliberation concerns tied to non‑unanimous verdicts, saying non‑unanimous juries tend to produce "more of a verdict‑driven deliberation as opposed to an evidence‑based deliberation process," a point the chair asked staff to capture in the final report.

After discussion the chair moved that staff cross‑reference the LDAA and PJI lists, include approved minutes from a prior meeting and unapproved minutes and public testimony from the current meeting, and assemble a report to be filed by Feb. 1. The motion, seconded by Mr. Snowden, was adopted without objection. The commission also adopted the November meeting minutes.

Daniels said he could provide the LDAA’s partially redacted list to the chair after removing work product, but reiterated that the LDAA’s review remains incomplete. PJI said it would provide the list it used to compile its boxes for LDAA review and that some names in PJI’s applications had since been released or died in custody; PJI noted it had checked Vinelink and other sources to verify incarceration status.

The commission instructed staff to use the materials available as of Jan. 31–Feb. 1 to assemble the report, and to circulate supplements submitted after filing to commissioners and legislators. The chair said one final meeting will be scheduled to agree on the final number once a draft report is available.

Next steps: staff will include the two organizations’ submitted summaries, the minutes and public testimony in the Feb. 1 report; LDAA will continue manual verification and provide its working list to the chair after removing work product. The commission adjourned after adopting the motions.