In 1981 Azania (formerly known as Rufus Averhart) was charged with the death of a Gary police officer, Lt. George Yaros. According to an November 25, 2002 Associated press article, "On Aug. 11, 1981, Azania, 2 companions and Yaros became embroiled in a shootout behind a Gary National Bank branch after a robbery. Azania fatally shot Yaros at close range after the officer collapsed from another gunshot wound. Azania, 47, was sentenced to death in 1982, but that sentence was overturned, only to be imposed again in 1996 by another jury.
Azania was convicted in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where not once but twice, African-Americans were excluded from the jury pool. Fort Wayne's explanation for this blatant discrepancy, when caught with their pants down and exposed for what it is, racist, called it a computer glitch! The Indiana Supreme Court required more of an explanation than a computer glitch, "Indiana Supreme Court cited state law requiring that county jury selections "must be fair and may not violate the rights of persons with respect to the impartial and random selection of prospective jurors."
A December 2, 2002 editorial in the Indianapolis Star argued that a computer program systematically plucked African-Americans from the jury pool:
"Allen County's system operated unfairly for more than 16 years beginning in 1980. The computer program used to identify prospective jurors from voter registration lists systematically excluded voters after it identified the total number needed for that year's jury pool. Since the system made cutoffs alphabetically, a majority of voters in Wayne Township, where 75 % of African Americans lived, always got left off the jury list."
In other words, every African American that lived in Fort Wayne would be denied their rights as citizens to participate in jury duty for sixteen years before Azania appeared in its city as an outsider to be lynched by the Allen County arbitrary,egregious and capricious system carried out by a select few Allen County administrators.. not a mistake nor a random act covering more than 16 years.
Under the flawed system, Azania would be the first person sentenced to death in Allen County since 1959. Azania has served 27 years and on October 20, 2008 a new trial has been set. Azania has overturned his death sentence twice, but this hearing may not be as kind under a 2002 death penalty statute:
"The Indiana courts have also held that Zolo’s new sentencing proceeding will be conducted pursuant to the current Indiana death penalty statute enacted in 2002, which means that when the trial court judge receives a sentencing recommendation from the jury, the judge is to sentence the defendant 'accordingly,' whether the jury recommends the death penalty, or a term of years."
This makes you wonder was this law drafted specifically for individuals like Azania?
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