A Chicago Democrat is asking a judge to toss his tax-evasion conviction, arguing that the selection of jurors in the district is fundamentally flawed and resulted in no black men on his jury.
William Beavers' attorneys made that argument in a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
Jurors convicted the 78-year-old Cook County commissioner earlier this year for not declaring campaign cash he used to gamble as income.
Beavers is black. His lawyers say a jury of his peers should have included at least a few African-American males. There was one African-American female juror.
The 26-page motion filed late Monday says the district's practice of drawing jury pools randomly from voter registration lists is more likely to exclude African-Americans.
It claims older whites are overrepresented on the lists.
Please Wait…