Opinion ID: 774819
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: excusing two black jurors for cause

Text: 137 He first argues that the court improperly excused two black, female prospective jurors for cause. 138 The first juror, Sarah Reynolds, was excused after she presented a letter from the executive director of the YWCA to the court stating, Sarah Reynolds is assuming a new assignment with the Central YWCA as of June 10, 1985. The assignment is extremely essential to the YWCA's approaching downtown relocation. The court first made sure that there was no one else to handle her responsibilities. Defense counsel asked for the court to reserve ruling until the juror could ascertain whether someone could replace her. The court declined, however, and excused the juror for cause. 139 The second juror, Beverly Peoples, presented a note from a doctor stating, She is suffering with hypertension and should not be asked to serve as a special juror at this time because of her physical condition. (Mrs. People's worked for the doctor who provided the letter.) The trial court noted on the record that the doctor called the court and was concerned that the office is not running as smoothly as he would prefer it in Ms. People's absence. 140 Defense counsel questioned Mrs. Peoples, who conceded that she was under a lot of stress at work. She also admitted that she would prefer not to serve for both health and religious reasons: I just don't feel that I should be in judgment of someone else regardless of the crime. 141 The prosecutor noted that the court had already excused two other jurors for hypertension. Over defense counsel's objection, the court excused the juror for medical reasons. 142 In petitioner's view, Given the treatment of white jurors, the only logical explanation for the excusal of Mrs. Reynolds and Mrs. Peoples is their race or gender. 143 The district court noted that this issue was not raised on direct appeal even though it was based on the record and was therefore procedurally defaulted pursuant to the Perry rule. We agree with that assessment. Moreover, the trial court had ample, race-neutral reasons to excuse both jurors for cause.