Wrongfully Jailed Black Man Fights to Give Another Chance To Louisianans Imprisoned by Split Juries

Jermaine Hudson was found guilty by split jury in 2001.

After spending over 20 years in a Louisiana prison for a crime he didn’t commit, a Black man and the white man whose false testimony helped convict him are advocating for a bill that would let inmates convicted by split juries the opportunity to request a retrial.

In 2001, Jermaine Hudson was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to 99 years, despite two jurors doubting the testimony of 20-year-old Bobby Gumpright, who claimed Hudson was the robber. He was found guilty by a split jury, a practice the U.S. Supreme Court later ruled unconstitutional, citing its racist Jim Crow origins.

Now, the two unlikely friends are working together, the Associated Press reports.

“I couldn’t change the past, but I could refuse to live the lie any longer while injustice continued,” Gumpright told lawmakers after confessing his lie in court over 20 years later. “Louisiana can’t change the past. But Louisiana can refuse to let its injustice live on.”

In 1999, Gumpright was 18 and battling drug addiction when he lied about being robbed on his way home from work when his father asked why he had no money. When he testified in 2001, he told the court he was “110%” confident Hudson was the robber.

The guilt weighed on him for years, but it wasn’t until 2021, just as Hudson was about to accept a plea deal for time served, that Gumpright, then in a drug treatment program, finally admitted he had lied. Hudson was finally released after spending 22 years in prison on a wrongful conviction.

In 2018, Louisiana voters abolished non-unanimous jury convictions, two years before the Supreme Court’s ruling. At that time, around 1,500 people were imprisoned in Louisiana due to split jury verdicts, with about 80% of them being Black and many serving life sentences.

Despite the ruling, Louisiana’s Supreme Court rejected retroactive application, leaving individuals like Hudson with limited legal options or hoping for a miracle. Upon his release, Hudson chose not to harbor resentment toward Gumpright. Instead, he reached out.

“I’m not the type of man to hold grudges or to hate anyone,” Hudson said. “I have a forgiving heart. And in order for me to really move on, I forgave him, because I understood what he was going through.”

The measure failed last year, but a legislative committee supported a similar bill in April. It now needs approval from the governor, House, and Senate, and could be debated this month.