Tennessee court grants new trial for Black man after all-white jury deliberated in room with Confederate symbols.
A Black man whose fate was decided by an all-white jury who deliberated in a room containing Confederate symbols will receive a new trial after a Tennessee's Criminal Appeals Court ruling.
Tim Gilbert was sentenced in June 2020 to six years in prison for aggravated assault and other charges connected with a 2018 altercation.
But Gilbert and his attorney argued the symbols on display at the Giles County courthouse, the jury's racial makeup and specific evidence allowed violated his right to a fair trial.
Unbeknownst to Gilbert or his attorney at the time of the trial, the jury considered whether Gilbert was innocent or guilty in a room where an antique Confederate flag and a portrait of Confederate President Jefferson Davis hung.
In conjunction with the issue regarding the jury's deliberation room, the appeals court found the trial court allowed a statement that should have been otherwise inadmissible.
The appeal court's ruling comes over a year after a Tennessee circuit judge denied Gilbert's motion for a new trial. »