Case Name: THE STATE v. McCOLLUM et al.
Court: Supreme Court of Georgia
Jurisdiction: Georgia
Decision Date: 1991-07-12
Citations: 261 Ga. 473
Docket Number: S91A0310
Parties: THE STATE v. McCOLLUM et al.
Judges: All the Justices concur, except Hunt, Ben-ham and Fletcher, JJ., who dissent.
Reporter: Georgia Reports
Volume: 261
Pages: 473–480

Head Matter:
S91A0310.
THE STATE v. McCOLLUM et al.
(405 SE2d 688)

Opinion:
Smith, Presiding Justice.
McCollum and others were indicted on several counts as a result of an altercation. The state filed a motion asking that the trial court prohibit the defendants from using peremptory strikes in a racially discriminatory matter. The motion was denied and the state appeals.
1. Since the order of the trial court, the United States Supreme Court has decided the case of Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co., 59 USLW 4574, decided June 3, 1991. In that case, the Court held, generally, that the exclusion of any prospective juror by virtue of race would constitute an impermissible injury to that juror. 59 USLW 4578.
2. Edmonson, of course, was a civil action. While it may be that the United States Supreme Court may, in another case, prohibit a criminal defendant from exercising peremptory challenges to exclude jurors on the basis of race, it has not yet done so. Bearing in mind the long history of jury trials as an essential element of the protection of human rights, this court declines to diminish the free exercise of peremptory strikes by a criminal defendant.
Judgment affirmed.
All the Justices concur, except Hunt, Ben-ham and Fletcher, JJ., who dissent.