Racial Bias and Injustice in Jury Selection and Trial

This chapter begins by reviewing one of the major racial injustices in the Fukunaga case—the voir dire examination of the prospective jurors for his trial. The great majority of those who served on the jury stated they had formed an opinion about Fukunaga’s guilt or innocence, which was probably that he was guilty because he had confessed to the crime. Racial injustice continued with the trial, evident in the rush to have him convicted and executed. Without offering an insanity or other defense, Fukunaga’s attorneys called no witnesses and offered stipulation that Fukunaga killed Gill Jamieson. Questions from the prosecution and testimony from their key witnesses demonstrate how Fukunaga was subject to racialization as Japanese instead of being tried as an individual without regard to race.