Opinion ID: 1711324
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 23

Heading: Venireperson Eikerenkoetter

Text: In defense of his strike of Eikerenkoetter, the prosecutor said: I didn't care for his view on the death penalty. I had a choice to make among several people that to narrow it down as to those that were supportive and not supportive on the death penalty and he was one that said he was not strongly supportive of the death penalty. And he didn't speak much. I just didn't get to know much about him. He didn't answer any questions. He didn't seem to volunteer much information. He's a nurse and I tend to strike people in the medical field because of all the doctors that are gonna be testifying. That was another consideration that I had. The trial court found this sufficiently race-neutral reason to support the peremptory strike. Defense counsel challenged this finding, claiming that Eikerenkoetter supported the death penalty more than some white persons who were left on the panel. The trial court countered that the prosecutor's explanation that he also struck Eikerenkoetter because he was a nurse was sufficient grounds to support the strike. The defense claims this too was pretextual because the state did not strike a Caucasian juror whose husband worked as a physician's recruiter. The trial court's ruling as to venireperson Eikerenkoetter was not clearly erroneous. Eikerenkoetter was employed as a nurse and therefore, by necessity, had medical training. The prosecutor's explanation was race-neutral, and Roberts has failed to demonstrate that similarly situated white jurors were not struck or that the prosecutor's explanation was otherwise pretextual. There was no Batson violation.