Megan Burns Wins New Trial Motion Based on Juror Misconduct

San Francisco, Calif. (San Francisco Chronicle) – A man convicted of robbing three people in San Francisco last spring was granted a new trial after a Superior Court judge ruled that a juror’s statements about gangs and another’s story about a made-up kidnapping had tainted deliberations.

Jurors found Fernando Renteria, 20, of Vacaville, guilty last month of committing three robberies within an hour and a half of each other on April 22.

His attorney, Deputy Public Defender Megan Burns, filed a motion arguing that two of the jurors had wrongly convinced their fellow jurors that Renteria was a member of MS-13, an allegation that affected their impartiality.

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