Missing juror leads to Dallas Co. fentanyl dealer’s conviction being overturned
Missing juror leads to overturned fentanyl conviction
A fentanyl dealer’s 30-year prison sentence is being overturned because of a missing juror during his Dallas County trial.
DALLAS - A fentanyl dealer’s 30-year prison sentence is being overturned because of a missing juror during his Dallas County trial.
The case against Richard Leal was the county’s first fentanyl dealing case tried and sentenced in front of a jury.
Dallas Co. Fentanyl Conviction Overturned
What we know:
Leal was convicted back in April of last year for the manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance.
The crime itself happened back in 2023 when Dallas police were searching for a wanted person at Leal’s home. Police pulled him over for a traffic stop and found a satchel with bags of cocaine and a bag of fentanyl pills.
First fentanyl case tried in Dallas County results in 30-year sentence
A 33-year-old man was sentenced to 30 years in prison in the first fentanyl dealing case tried in Dallas County.
But an appeals court overturned the conviction this week because the record did not show 12 jurors being seated.
The opinion from the appeals court said in part, "neither the court nor either party raised an objection to the seating of 11 jurors or expressed concerns about the composition of the jury at any point throughout the trial."
What they're saying:
FOX 4 reached out to the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office for an explanation of what happened and what might happen next.
"The appellate opinion speaks for itself. If an agreement existed to proceed with fewer than 12 jurors, it does not appear in the record, as reflected in the court’s ruling," the DA’s office said in a statement.
The DA’s office said it will examine the record to determine whether there is any indication that the 12th juror was present.
Dig deeper:
FOX 4 also asked a criminal law expert to weigh in on what the overturned conviction means and how the case might proceed.
"The parties can either try to reach an agreement regarding the resolution of the case, or they can retry the case. And the case could be tried by a separate jury without knowledge of the first trial, and then that jury can determine guilt or innocence," said Russell Wilson, a former assistant district attorney.
Wilson said it’s important to note that the reversal of the case does not mean that the person simply walks free.
"They are just put in the position they were in prior to the trial. And they still have to stand trial for the case," he said.
The Source: FOX 4's Steven Dial gathered information for this story from court records, a statement from the Dallas County District Attorney's Office, and an interview with former assistant district attorney Russell Wilson.