A first-of-its-kind fentanyl conviction in Dallas County has been thrown out after it was discovered that the verdict was handed down by only 11 jurors, not the 12 required by the Texas Constitution, in a lapse so glaring the judge said “it defies logic.”
Richard Leal was convicted in April of manufacturing or delivering between four and 200 grams of fentanyl and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
But now the conviction has been tossed after there was no evidence in the trial transcript that a 12th juror ever existed, baffling many, WFAA reported. A felony jury trial conducted with fewer than 12 jurors violates the Texas Constitution.
“It defies logic that neither the trial judge, nor the bailiff, nor the court reporter, nor either party noticed throughout the entire trial that the jury box was missing a twelfth juror,” Fifth Court of Appeals Justice Mike Lee wrote for the court. “Yet, the record demonstrates exactly that.”
Leal was arrested during a traffic stop in February 2023 after he was found with a gun, crack cocaine, marijuana, 57 blue pills of M-30 containing fentanyl, and methamphetamine tablets, according to a press release from the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office.
He told police the cocaine was for personal use and that he distributed pills and bricks “as samples for his people,” Fox4News reported.
Leal’s case was the first fentanyl dealing case tried and sentenced in front of a Dallas County jury, the DA’s office said. Now, the conviction has been thrown out.
In briefs to the appeals court, the DA’s office argued that since Leal’s attorney did not object at jury selection when the trial court called the names of only 11 jurors, Leal had “forfeited his complaint for review on appeal.”
“By failing to bring this issue to the court’s attention, Appellant eliminated the court’s opportunity to remedy the issue, if in fact there was a problem to remedy,” the DA’s brief said. “Appellant also did not object to the trial proceeding with 11 jurors, if in fact, only 11 jurors were seated.”
The appeals court disagreed, saying, “The State’s assertion that Leal failed to preserve error for review by not objecting is without merit.”
