Podcasts History Offbeat Oregon History podcast Oregon was last state where jury need not be unanimous

Oregon was last state where jury need not be unanimous

Published: Oct. 14, 2020, 2 p.m.

At Jake Silverman's trial, 11 jurors wanted him to hang, but couldn't convince the lone holdout to change his vote. So voters changed the law and made Oregon the only state in the country where you could be convicted on a 10-2 vote. The decision stood, despite numerous attempts to repeal it, until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the practice unconstitutional, in April of 2020. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1933) (For text and pictures, see http://www.offbeatoregon.com/1809e.1812.silverman-verdict.html)