WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - A Sedgwick County judge said Thursday that the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) challenge to jury selection and death qualification in capital murder cases is valid.
This week, the ACLU argued that potential jurors are excluded because they oppose the death penalty. This oftentimes also leads to the exclusion of Black jurors and women jurors, according to the ACLU and the evidence they presented.
Judge Jeffrey Goering said he will review that part of the challenge and provide his opinion before it goes before Kyle Young’s case begins the jury selection process later this summer.
The ACLU filed the challenge as part of Young’s case, who is charged with capital murder, in the January 2020 shooting deaths of George Kirksey and Alicia Roman.
Judge Goering said the other two challenges - based on how capital punishment is applied and how the death penalty doesn’t serve a punitive purpose - are not relevant at this stage in the case and will depend on if the jury returns a capital conviction.