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Court: Sleeping Juror Did Not Impact Columbus Man's Conviction

Columbus Division of Police

An Ohio appeals court panel has ruled a juror who was sleeping during testimony in a Columbus man's murder trial did not affect his conviction.  28-year-old Desjuan Hayes argued he didn't get a fair trial last year because a judge failed to remove the juror or question her about repeatedly falling asleep. The attorneys in the case discussed replacing the juror with an alternate during trial, but neither side requested to do so when the presiding judge offered it.  Hayes was sentenced to life in prison for killing 39-year-old Michael Cumberland in 2014.

Jim has been with WCBE since 1996. Before that he worked as a reporter at another Columbus radio station, and for three newspapers in Southwest Florida.