State of Louisiana v. Tyrone C Myles

STATE OF LOUISIANA * NO. 2019-KA-0965

VERSUS * COURT OF APPEAL

TYRONE C MYLES * FOURTH CIRCUIT

* STATE OF LOUISIANA

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APPEAL FROM
CRIMINAL DISTRICT COURT ORLEANS PARISH
NO. 545-160, SECTION “A”
Honorable Laurie A. White, Judge
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Judge Rosemary Ledet
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(Court composed of Judge Roland L. Belsome, Judge Rosemary Ledet, Judge
Regina Bartholomew-Woods)

Leon Cannizzaro, District Attorney
Donna R. Andrieu, Assistant District Attorney
Irena Zajickova, Assistant District Attorney
DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, ORLEANS PARISH
619 S. White Street
New Orleans, LA 70119

COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE/THE STATE OF LOUISIANA

Meghan Harwell Bitoun
Louisiana Appellate Project
P. O. Box 4252
New Orleans, LA 70178-4252

COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT

VACATED AND REMANDED

APRIL 29, 2020

RML This is a criminal case. The defendant, Tyrone Myles, appeals his conviction
RLB
RBW and sentence for second-degree murder. For the reasons that follow, we vacate and

remand.

BACKGROUND

On April 4, 2019, Mr. Myles was indicted for the second-degree murder of

Antoine Mr. Brumfield.1 Following a two-day trial, the jury found Mr. Myles

guilty as charged by a vote of ten-to-two. Subsequently, the district court sentenced

Mr. Myles to life imprisonment at hard labor without the benefit of parole,

probation, or suspension of sentence. This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

Mr. Myles assigns three errors on appeal. His third assignment of error—that

the jury’s non-unanimous verdict is unconstitutional—has merit. See Ramos v.

Louisiana, No. 18-5924, ___ U.S. ___, ___ S.Ct. ___, ___L.Ed.2d ___ (2020),

2020 WL 1906545 (holding that jury verdicts in state felony trials must be

unanimous). Because Mr. Myles’ case is pending on direct review, the Supreme

Court’s decision in Ramos applies here. See Schriro v. Summerlin, 542 U.S. 348,

1
See La. R.S. 14:30.1. Mr. Myles was also indicted for possession of firearm by a felon and pled
guilty to that charge before trial. See La. R.S. 14:95.1. He was sentenced as habitual offender to
forty years at hard labor. Neither that conviction nor that sentence is before us on appeal.

1

351, 124 S.Ct. 2519, 2522, 159 L.Ed.2d 442 (2004) (observing that “[w]hen a

decision of [the United States Supreme Court] results in a ‘new rule,’ that rule

applies to all criminal cases still pending on direct review”).

DECREE

For the foregoing reasons, the defendant’s conviction and sentence are

vacated and the case is remanded to the district court.

VACATED AND REMANDED

2