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A judge’s error has led to the reversal of Richland County woman’s 2023 murder conviction by a unanimous three-judge panel of the S.C. Court of Appeals.
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Jamira Davis, 26, is due a new trial, the Court of Appeals panel ruled.
However, prosecutors could appeal the decision. Consequently, a final ruling on whether she gets a new trial — depending on whether prosecutors appeal — might have to wait for a ruling by the S.C. Supreme Court.
Davis is at Leath Correctional Institution in Greenwood County, where she was serving a 35-year murder sentence in the shooting death of Brandon “Boleg” Boden, 42, at his small one-story home in Hopkins.
The Court of Appeals said the key issue they found in their granting Davis a new trial was the failure of trial Judge Daniel Coble to question a juror, identified only as Juror No. 285, whether that juror had broken her oath to be impartial.
“We hold the trial court abused its discretion when it failed to question Juror No. 285 about any communications the juror had with any third party regarding deliberations,” the Court of Appeals panel ruled.
“It is uncontroverted that Juror No. 285 had a conversation about the trial and deliberations with a third party, but the testimony presented to the trial court did not indicate precisely what information the juror conveyed to the third party about the deliberations or whether the third party made any statements to the juror in response,” the panel wrote.
Because the judge did not question the juror, the judge was unable “to make an informed decision” about whether the juror had violated her oath to give Davis a fair and impartial trial, the panel said.
Questioning juror No. 285 could have helped the judge determine if that juror was “unbiased, fair, and impartial,” the panel wrote. Jurors are not supposed to discuss their cases until they begin deliberating, and then only with each other. After a case is over, they can discuss it with anyone.
Read more Judge’s error leads to reversal of Richland County woman’s murder conviction
In 2021, Davis was charged with murder in Boden’s death.
Boden’s body was discovered by City of Columbia firefighters who responded to a house fire in Hopkins.
“After the fire was extinguished, firefighters discovered Boden’s body in what had been the kitchen. An autopsy revealed Boden had died from multiple gunshot wounds and was deceased when the fire began. Tests indicated Boden’s blood-alcohol level was around 0.24, and he tested positive for a cocaine metabolite and an active ingredient in marijuana,” the panel wrote.
Boden had an on-again, off-again relationship with Davis’ mother, the panel wrote.
In police interviews, Davis denied killing Boden at first but later admitted killing him because he was trying to sexually assault her, the panel wrote.
Under the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, defendants in criminal trials are guaranteed the right to a fair and impartial jury.
Denial of that right can lead to the overturning of a conviction, as when the S.C. Supreme Court earlier this year unanimously overturned the high-profile double murder conviction of Alex Murdaugh. He now has a new trial, scheduled for April 5 in Sumter County.
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