Opinion ID: 1751529
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Lillie Terrell:

Text: The prosecutor challenged Terrell because she was asleep during the court's voir dire, was extremely bored, was looking around, was yawning, put her head down, started fiddling around in her lap, was wearing short pants, and was thirty-nine-years old and unemployed. The prosecutor had information that she was related to Hope Terrell, one of the witnesses. Mack contends that these reasons are indicative of the shotgun approach and signal a racially-motivated challenge. Inattentiveness, boredom, dress, demeanor, unemployment, and sleeping during voir dire have all been determined by this Court to be racially neutral reasons. See e.g. Abram v. State, 606 So.2d 1015 (Miss. 1992) (inattentiveness is race neutral reason); Griffin v. State, 607 So.2d 1197, 1203 (Miss. 1992) (sleeping during voir dire race-neutral reason); Bradley v. State, 562 So.2d 1276 (Miss. 1990) (juror excused for wearing overalls and black t-shirt); Lockett v. State, 517 So.2d 1346 (Miss. 1987) (juror excused for wearing hat in courtroom). One of the reasons for the challenge enunciated by the State, the age of Terrell, is highly suspect because of its inherent susceptibility to abuse Ex Parte Bird, 594 So.2d 676, 683 (Ala. 1991); however, this Court has held that age is an acceptable race-neutral reason. See Lockett v. State, 517 So.2d 1346 (Miss. 1987) (Appendix I at 1356-57); Simon v. State, 633 So.2d 407 (Miss. 1993) ( But see Banks, dissenting.) The trial court correctly rejected the challenge to Terrell based upon a suspected relationship, observing that the prosecutor could have raised the issue on voir dire. Nevertheless, Mack did not contest the observations made by the prosecutor concerning the demeanor and dress of the juror and the challenge was upheld. While the shotgun approach may be an indicator of pretext, the relative strength of the prima facie case again comes into play. The trial court ruled correctly in this instance.