The Brief Lawyers for Kewon White are seeking a new trial following his capital murder conviction, alleging a juror slept through hours of testimony. Defense attorneys state the juror continuously fell asleep throughout the trial and that the judge failed to properly address the issue. It remains unclear when or if Texas Criminal District Court Judge Chika Anyiam will rule on the motion for a new trial.



Lawyers for the man convicted of murdering Dallas rapper MO3 are asking for a new trial because of sleepy juror.

Motion for a New Trial

Kewon White

What we know:

Kewon White's defense attorneys recently filed a motion for a new trial because of jury misconduct. They allege one of the jurors slept through most of the testimony during White's trial in September.

 Defendant is entitled to a new trial because he was tried by a jury that including a sleeping juror, resulting in the violation of his statutory and state constitutional right to a trial by a jury of twelve,  the motion states.

This motion is separate from an appeal that was filed at the end of September.


Dig deeper:

The motion notes that the juror was observed to be sleeping almost every day for several minutes at a time before waking up and falling asleep again.

Both the prosecution and the defense repeatedly brought the matter up to Texas Criminal District Court Judge Chika Anyiam, and the motion alleges the judge either did nothing or only gave jurors a short break.

 The juror in question resumed sleeping after most break,  the motion states.

It points to a specific incident during the trial when the sleepy juror was slumped over and appeared to be ill. Even though the juror advised she was okay to continue, the judge later agreed to break for the day after having a discussion with the attorneys on both sides.

What they're saying:

The motion also includes statements from two of White's trial defense attorneys.

 The juror's sleep was open and obvious. She would slouch down and lean back in her chair with her head tilted back, or her head would drop forward. While she was in that state, she was no
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