Slay-trial ‘stung’ jury

Conviction imperiled over witness ‘conflict’

A manslaughter conviction is in jeopardy because a Manhattan judge refused to boot a juror — even though the woman disclosed that she knew one of the victims, court papers reveal.

Dalone “Smack” Jamison was found guilty in July of manslaughter and two counts of assault for killing a woman and wounding two others outside a Flatiron nightclub on Oct. 12, 2015.

But defense lawyers Dawn Florio and Gloria Keum argued in a recently filed motion to overturn the verdict, arguing that juror Crystal Stewart should have been removed because she “could only have identified, undoubtedly sympathetically, with this prosecution witness.”

That’s because Stewart recognized victim Deborah Raji from a local mentoring program Stewart’s son attended when Raji took the stand in June to testify about the night Jamison (above) opened fire outside the Motivo nightclub, grazing the left side of Raji’s chest and leaving a burn.

Stewart promptly alerted Justice Ellen Biben that she knew Raji from her work at Prep for Prep, an intense leadership program that helps talented minority students get into the city’s most exclusive private schools.

The juror said her son attended the program for 2½ years and while Raji didn’t tutor him directly she supported his progress, according to court papers.

“She would encourage him [the juror’s son] to keep going. Don’t give up. She [told him] she knows that it is difficult but there is a reward at the end,” said Stewart when questioned by the judge.

Stewart said she saw Raji twice a week during the school year and five days a week during the summer when she picked up her son. They had also spoken about grades, Stewart said.

Defense lawyer Florio told the judge she wanted one of the four alternate jurors to take Stewart’s place.

But Biben said the relationship had occurred five years earlier and that Stewart had insisted she could be impartial.

Keum told The Post: “The fabric of democracy is based on an individual’s ability to be judged by an impartial group of his peers. Dalone Jamison was deprived of this right when the court elected not to remove juror no. 8 from the jury panel.”

Biben delayed Jamison’s sentencing to rule on the motion.