Opinion ID: 1147539
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: whether the state improperly exercised its peremptory challenges by striking black jurors on the basis of their race.

Text: Adkins, a white defendant, was charged with the murder of a white female. During jury selection, the State exercised 9 of its 24 peremptory strikes to remove 9 of 11 blacks from the jury. Adkins's lawyers struck one of the two remaining black jurors, and one black served on the jury. Adkins's lawyers never objected to the State's removal of blacks from Adkins's jury. Recently, the United States Supreme Court held as follows: Invoking the Equal Protection Clause and federal statutory law, and relying upon well-established principles of standing, we hold that a criminal defendant may object to race-based exclusions of jurors effected through peremptory challenges whether or not the defendant and the excluded juror share the same race. Powers v. Ohio, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 111 S.Ct. 1364, 1366, 113 L.Ed.2d 411, 419 (1991). The Court stated: The discriminatory use of peremptory challenges by the prosecution causes a criminal defendant cognizable injury, and the defendant has a concrete interest in challenging the practice.... This is not because the individual jurors dismissed by the prosecution may have been predisposed to favor the defendant; if that were true, the jurors might have been excused for cause. Rather, it is because racial discrimination in the selection of jurors `casts doubt on the integrity of the judicial process,' ... and places the fairness of a criminal proceeding in doubt. Id., ___ U.S. at ___, 111 S.Ct. at 1371, 113 L.Ed.2d at 425 (citations omitted). Consequently, this Court must review the question whether the State's exercise of its peremptory strikes was racially discriminatory. In Ex parte Bankhead, supra , this Court, relying on Powers, remanded a case in which the death penalty had been imposed on a white defendant. Bankhead's attorney had not objected to the State's use of its peremptory strikes to remove 8 of 10 black venire members. This Court held that the plain error doctrine required it to address the Batson issue and, on rehearing after Powers was decided and relying on the mandate of Powers, held that the case was due to be remanded to the circuit court for a hearing on this issue. 585 So.2d at 117. The same holding is required here.