Opinion ID: 2369367
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Legal contentions

Text: In denying defendant's Batson / Wheeler motions, the trial court first found no prima facie showing of discrimination, and then explained its reasons for doing so; the court, however, then invited the prosecutor to make additional remarks. The prosecutor each time concurred in the trial court's remarks and made additional observations. Thus, similar to People v. Mills (2010) 48 Cal.4th 158, 173-174 [106 Cal.Rptr.3d 153, 226 P.3d 276] ( Mills ), this case is a first stage/third stage Batson hybrid, as the record contains both the prosecutor's reasons and the trial court's evaluation (albeit implicit) of those reasons. Thus, as we did in Mills, we will express no opinion on whether defendant established a prima facie case of discrimination and skip to Batson 's third stage and evaluate the prosecutor's reasons for challenging these prospective jurors. `Review of a trial court's denial of a [ Batson / Wheeler ] motion is deferential, examining only whether substantial evidence supports its conclusions. [Citation.] ... We presume that a prosecutor uses peremptory challenges in a constitutional manner and give great deference to the trial court's ability to distinguish bona fide reasons from sham excuses. [Citation.] So long as the trial court makes a sincere and reasoned effort to evaluate the nondiscriminatory justifications offered, its conclusions are entitled to deference on appeal. [Citation.]' ( People v. Taylor (2009) 47 Cal.4th 850, 886 [102 Cal.Rptr.3d 852, 220 P.3d 872] ( Taylor ).) (4) As part of our analysis, we consider as `bearing on the trial court's factual finding regarding discriminatory intent' [citation] the comparisons of prospective jurors challenged and unchallenged that defendant expounds in his briefs, though few if any of these comparisons were made in the trial court. At the same time, `we are mindful that comparative juror analysis on a cold appellate record has inherent limitations.' [Citation.] In addition to the difficulty of assessing tone, expression and gesture from the written transcript of voir dire, we attempt to keep in mind the fluid character of the jury selection process and the complexity of the balance involved. `Two panelists might give a similar answer on a given point. Yet the risk posed by one panelist might be offset by other answers, behavior, attitudes or experiences that make one juror, on balance, more or less desirable. These realities, and the complexity of human nature, make a formulaic comparison of isolated responses an exceptionally poor medium to overturn a trial court's factual finding.' [Citation.] ( Taylor, supra, 47 Cal.4th at p. 887.) As noted, with respect to each of the challenged prospective jurors, the trial court ruled defendant failed to demonstrate an inference of racial bias. Defendant contends the trial court erred in so ruling, as the prosecutor used six of his 13 peremptory challenges (including four of his first seven) to excuse African-Americans. [12] Only 10 of the prospective jurors in the venire, defendant observes, were African-American. Defendant contends we cannot rely on the trial court's speculations about the prosecutor's possible reasons for challenging these prospective jurors. We disagree. The prosecutor expressly adopted the trial court's reasons, and his additional observations supplemented those of the trial court. Although defendant contends we can have no confidence that the prosecutor's stated race-neutral reasons were really his own, there is nothing in the record to indicate they were not. Notably, the prosecutor explicitly adopted the trial court's reasons; there is no need for us to engage in speculation as to the prosecutor's reasons for the challenges, as the prosecutor actually offered reasons. Moreover, the record supports the inference that the prosecutor's offered reasons were genuine, as his questioning of each of these prospective jurors focused on the exact bases that the trial court cited in its rulings. The trial court correctly denied defendant's Batson / Wheeler motion with respect to J.M. because of his less than forthcoming responses on the juror questionnaire and during voir dire regarding whether any family members were ever accused of committing a crime. Although defendant on appeal repeats J.M.'s stated confusion regarding whether the inquiry applied to juvenile adjudications, and contends there is no reason to believe [J.M.] deliberately concealed this information or had some hidden agenda or would be biased against the prosecutor, the trial court and the prosecutor, who had the opportunity to observe J.M.'s demeanor, concluded J.M. had been untruthful. On the record before us, J.M.'s reluctance to discuss these matters sufficiently demonstrates that the proffered reasons for dismissing J.M. were not pretextual. M.L.W., M.D.W., and D.J., the subject of defendant's first, third, and fourth Batson / Wheeler motions, were primarily excused due to their expressed reservations about the death penalty, reservations that were rooted in their religious beliefs. [13] In denying defendant's motions, the trial court noted that the prosecutor also had challenged prospective jurors of other races who expressed religious objections or concerns about the death penalty. The trial court then related its experience that African-Americans, as a group, are less supportive of the death penalty. (5) Defendant contends the trial court's comment about the effect of African-Americans' beliefs, as a group, on their ability to serve as capital jurors demonstrated impermissible racial bias. Not so. The prosecutor excluded these specific three prospective jurors not because of their race but rather because of their expressed doubts about the death penalty. And, as defendant concedes, a juror's reservations about the death penalty constitute a valid race-neutral reason for a peremptory challenge. (E.g., People v. Salcido (2008) 44 Cal.4th 93, 140-141 [79 Cal.Rptr.3d 54, 186 P.3d 437] ( Salcido ).) To the extent defendant contends these religious reservations acted as a proxy for racial discrimination, as the trial court noted and defendant concedes, the prosecutor also challenged jurors of other races based on these same reservations. (See People v. Williams (1997) 16 Cal.4th 153, 190-191 [66 Cal.Rptr.2d 123, 940 P.2d 710] [reliance on a reason asserted to be a proxy for race is permissible if there is a specific link between the stated reason and the basis for the challenge].) Consequently, defendant fails to demonstrate that the prosecutor's concerns over the prospective jurors' religious reservations were pretextual. Defendant nonetheless contends the excusal of these prospective jurors acted as impermissible religious discrimination. As defendant did not articulate this basis for his objection in the trial court, he has forfeited the claim on appeal. (See People v. Thornton (2007) 41 Cal.4th 391, 462 [61 Cal.Rptr.3d 461, 161 P.3d 3].) In any event, the claim lacks merit, as there is no evidence in the record the prosecutor discriminated against any particular religious denomination. Nor is there any evidence the prosecutor excluded prospective jurors who expressed some sort of religious belief, or a religious belief that might theoretically interfere with the ability to return a death verdict. Rather, the prosecutor challenged only those who actually expressed a possible conflict between their religious beliefs and duties as a juror, which as we have noted, is permissible.