California Racial Justice Act Claim Succeeds in Granting Franklin Lynch a New Trial

California Racial Justice Act Claim Succeeds in Granting Franklin Lynch a New Trial

After spend­ing 32 years under a death sen­tence, on February 9, 2026, the Superior Court of the State of California, Alameda County vacat­ed the con­vic­tion and sen­tence of Franklin Lynch and ordered a new tri­al under California’s Racial Justice Act (CRJA). Mr. Lynch’s attor­neys argued that racial bias per­vad­ed his tri­al, alleg­ing the dis­crim­i­na­to­ry use of pre­emp­to­ry strikes in jury selec­tion in vio­la­tion of the Supreme Court…