STATE OF LOUISIANA VERSUS TYRONE C MYLES
NO. 2019-KA-0965
COURT OF APPEAL FOURTH CIRCUIT STATE OF LOUISIANA
APRIL 29, 2020
Judge Rosemary Ledet
APPEAL FROM CRIMINAL DISTRICT COURT ORLEANS PARISH NO. 545-160, SECTION “A“, Honorable Laurie A. White, Judge. (Court composed of Judge Roland L. Belsome, Judge Rosemary Ledet, Judge Regina Bartholomew-Woods)
Leon Cannizzaro, District Attorney
Donna R. Andrieu, Assistant District Attorney
Irena Zajickova, Assistant District Attorney
DISTRICT ATTORNEY‘S OFFICE, ORLEANS PARISH
619 S. White Street
New Orleans, LA 70119
COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE/THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
Meghan Harwell Bitoun
Louisiana Appellate Project
P. O. Box 4252
New Orleans, LA 70178-4252
COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT
VACATED AND REMANDED
APRIL 29, 2020
This is a criminal case. The defendant, Tyrone Myles, appeals his conviction and sentence for second-degree murder. For the reasons that follow, we vacate and remand.
BACKGROUND
On April 4, 2019, Mr. Myles was indicted for the second-degree murder of Antoine Mr. Brumfield.1 Following a two-day trial, the jury found Mr. Myles guilty as charged by a vote of ten-to-two. Subsequently, the district court sentenced Mr. Myles to life imprisonment at hard labor without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. This appeal followed.
Mr. Myles assigns three errors on appeal. His third assignment of error—that the jury‘s non-unanimous verdict is unconstitutional—has merit. See Ramos v. Louisiana, No. 18-5924, ___ U.S. ___, ___ S.Ct. ___, ___L.Ed.2d ___ (2020), 2020 WL 1906545 (holding that jury verdicts in state felony trials must be unanimous). Because Mr. Myles’ case is pending on direct review, the Supreme Court‘s decision in Ramos applies here. See Schriro v. Summerlin, 542 U.S. 348, 351, 124 S.Ct. 2519, 2522, 159 L.Ed.2d 442 (2004) (observing that “[w]hen a decision of [the United States Supreme Court] results in a ‘new rule,’ that rule applies to all criminal cases still pending on direct review“).
DECREE
For the foregoing reasons, the defendant‘s conviction and sentence are vacated and the case is remanded to the district court.
VACATED AND REMANDED