The Kentucky Supreme Court has overturned murder and arson convictions of a Graves County man claiming a lack of women on the jury contributed to the conviction.
Chief Justice John Minton says Cole Douglas Ross’ claim of gender discrimination was “presented to him on a silver platter” by the state prosecutor, who admitted to dismissing females from the jury pool during his 2012 trial.
Ross was convicted of starting a 2009 house trailer fire in the Melber community killing Keith Colston. His first trial in 2011 resulted in a hung jury and mistrial.
Defense attorney Nathan Goodrich says the court has 30 days to finalize the opinion, after that the convictions will be thrown out.
Goodrich says Ross was held in custody prior to his previous trial and will likely be lodged in Graves County jail for another trial or plea deal. Ross is currently incarcerated in Green River Correctional Complex in Muhlenberg County.
Goodrich says no decisions have been made on to have a new trial, but he expects September for a possible start date.
