# The Omission of Acquittal: State v. Michael Steven White

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/swear-on-the-stand-7111404/the-omission-of-acquittal-state-v-michael-steven-white
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/swear-on-the-stand-7111404/the-omission-of-acquittal-state-v-michael-steven-white.md
Podcast: [Swear on the Stand](https://stenobird.com/podcast/swear-on-the-stand-7111404)
Published: 2026-04-21T14:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/danielswear/episodes/The-Omission-of-Acquittal-State-v--Michael-Steven-White-e3i2utb
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/fddb5314/podcast/play/118634859/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-3-17%2Febaf9f47-f080-ebf0-77e9-c46b42b87674.m4a
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Duration seconds: 3352

## Resource

The Supreme Court of Louisiana recently reversed the burglary convictions of Michael Steven White because the written verdict form provided to the jury failed to include a "not guilty" option. Although the trial judge gave correct verbal instructions, the written form listed only guilty , guilty of attempted simple burglary , and guilty as the possible responses. The majority opinion determined that omitting the presumption of innocence from the final deliberation document was a patent error that potentially influenced the jury’s decision-making process. Evidence of juror confusion during polling further convinced the court that the mistake was not harmless, despite the state's claims of overwhelming evidence. While a concurring justice argued the error was structural and required an automatic new trial, a dissenting justice maintained that the trial's overall context made the omission harmless. Ultimately, the court vacated White's twenty-year sentence and remanded the case for a new trial to protect his constitutional rights.

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## Transcript

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