Opinion ID: 1628268
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Strikes of Venirepersons for Religious Reasons

Text: Mr. Strong asserts that the motion court erred in denying his claim that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to raise religion-based Batson challenges to the State's peremptory strikes of Sylvia Stevenson and Luke Bobo. [4] At voir dire, Mr. Strong's trial counsel raised race-based Batson challenges to the State's peremptory strikes of Ms. Stevenson and Mr. Bobo, both African-American venirepersons. The trial court then asked the State to provide race-neutral explanations for the strikes. With respect to Ms. Stevenson, the prosecutor explained that he removed Ms. Stevenson for several reasons: she seemed very unhappy with the idea of sequestration, she appeared disinterested, she did not appear to have any young children, she was weak on her ability to apply the death penalty, and counsel questioned her ability to apply the death penalty due to her references to both church and religion. The trial court found these reasons to be race-neutral. Defense counsel then asserted that Ms. Stevenson's religion and that she knew someone from the division of family services through church were merely pretextual explanations. The trial court found that the reasons were not pretextual and allowed the removal of Ms. Stevenson. With respect to Mr. Bobo, the State asserted that: Mr. Bobo is the assistant dean of Covenant Seminary, and as much respect as I have for religious people, I don't want religious people, very religious, and I would have to assume because he's the dean of a seminary that he is a very religious person. I don't think he would make a particularly good death penalty juror in this case, butor in any case for that matter. Although he indicated during the voir dire that he would impose the death sentence in an appropriate situation, he was not, certainly not as strong as I would like him to have been on that, combined primarily with his position as the assistant dean of Covenant Seminary. And he does have, as you mentioned up at the bench, a cousin in prison, I believe out in the Kansas City area. As I recall that was, I could be mistaken on this, but I think it was a murder and his cousin was in prison for murder. The trial court found these reasons to be race-neutral. The court stated that [m]ost importantly, the race-neutral reason the Court believes for striking Mr. Bobo beyond the other reasons that Mr. McCulloch has mentioned is clearly that being the assistant dean, director of Covenant Seminary, which the Court is aware of, is a race-neutral reason. In response, Mr. Strong's trial counsel identified a Caucasian juror who had retired from teaching at a parochial school and asserted that the State's reason was therefore pretextual. The trial court found that the Caucasian juror was not similarly situated, however, because being an assistant dean and director of a seminary that teaches individuals to go into religious vocations is very different from teaching high school students at a parochial school. The trial court also found that Mr. Bobo was not similarly situated with the Caucasian juror because that juror did not have a cousin who went to jail for murder or a cousin who was shot while driving a car. The court found that: [T]he logical relevance between striking Mr. Bobo, who's assistant dean, director of a Covenant Seminary, and the relevance between that and the fact that the State of Missouri has elected to proceed with the death penalty, it's clear to the Court that individuals in often religious avocations are more apt toit's a very relevant issue between those two and the effect that it would have upon an individual sitting in a case involving the death penalty. Mr. Strong's trial counsel did not raise religion-based Batson challenges to the peremptory strikes of Ms. Stevenson and Mr. Bobo. Mr. Strong first challenged the constitutionality of religious-based strikes in his direct appeal, where he attempted to argue that the dismissal of Mr. Bobo on the ground that Mr. Bobo, as a religious person, would be less likely to impose the death penalty violates article I, section 5 of the Missouri Constitution. [5] Strong, 142 S.W.3d 702, 713 (Mo. banc 2004). This Court, however, found that Mr. Strong failed to preserve the claim for appellate review because it was not raised before the trial court. Id. This Court further found that Mr. Strong failed to demonstrate plain error. Id. Mr. Strong also asserted on direct appeal that the prosecutor's statement that Ms. Stevenson's religious beliefs were perhaps another reason why she may be weak on the death penalty violated equal protection by predicating [his] excuse upon her religious affiliation. Id. at 714. This Court again found that the constitutional argument was waived because it was not raised before the trial court, and that Mr. Strong did not establish plain error. Id. Here, in his appeal from the denial of his motion for post-conviction relief, Mr. Strong asserts that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to raise religion-based Batson challenges. The failure to preserve error for appellate review is not cognizable in a Rule 29.15 motion. Everage v. State, 229 S.W.3d 99, 102 (Mo. App.2007). Instead, post-conviction relief for ineffective assistance of counsel is limited to errors that prejudiced the defendant by denying him a fair trial. State v. Thompson, 955 S.W.2d 828, 831 (Mo.App. 1997). Trial counsel's failure to object to improper jury selection methods can, in appropriate circumstances, constitute ineffective assistance of counsel affecting the fairness of a criminal trial. Scott v. State, 183 S.W.3d 244, 247-48 (Mo.App.2005). Claims that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to raise a Batson challenge, therefore, are cognizable in a Rule 29.15 motion for post-conviction relief. Id. In addition to a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, Rule 29.15 allows [a] person convicted of a felony after trial [to claim] that the conviction or sentence imposed violates the constitution and laws of this state or the constitution of the United States. . . . Mr. Strong did not raise an independent constitutional claim outside the ineffective assistance context. This Court notes that, even if Mr. Strong were to raise such a claim on appeal of the denial of his post-conviction motion, it was not raised before the trial court. A constitutional claim must be raised at the earliest opportunity and preserved at each step of the judicial process. State v. Sumowski, 794 S.W.2d 643, 648 (Mo. banc 1990). Batson provides the procedural framework through which a party challenges the constitutionality of an opposing party's peremptory strikes. Therefore, the appropriate mechanism for claiming the improper removal of venirepersons under the provisions of the Missouri Constitution, like claims that peremptory strikes violate the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution, is a Batson objection. As noted above, Mr. Strong's counsel never made a religion-based Batson objection. `[B]oth the federal and state courts have consistently held that the failure to make a timely objection effectively waives any arguments based on improprieties in jury selection which the defendant might urge pursuant to Batson.' State v. Parker, 836 S.W.2d 930, 935 (Mo. banc 1992) (quotation omitted). Even a person convicted by an unconstitutionally composed jury must bring that claim to the attention of the trial court. State ex rel. York v. Daugherty, 969 S.W.2d 223, 224 (Mo. banc 1998) (citing Davis v. United States, 411 U.S. 233, 240, 93 S.Ct. 1577, 36 L.Ed.2d 216 (1973)). Further, trial counsel's race-based Batson challenges do not preserve a claim for religion-based discrimination in the State's use of peremptory strikes. See United States v. Brown, 352 F.3d 654, 662 (2nd Cir.2003) (applying plain error review standard for defendant's claim that the prosecution improperly struck venireperson on the basis of her religion because defendant's race-based Batson challenge did not to preserve the religious discrimination claim). In reviewing Mr. Strong's claim for ineffective assistance of counsel, this Court need not decide whether the prosecution's peremptory strikes were constitutionally prohibited. Even assuming that trial counsel's failure to object to the peremptory strikes on religious grounds was unreasonable, Mr. Strong must show that counsel's shortcomings were prejudicial. If it is easier to dispose of an ineffectiveness claim on the ground of lack of sufficient prejudice, which we expect will often be so, that course should be followed. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 697, 104 S.Ct. 2052. To satisfy the prejudice prong of the Strickland analysis, Mr. Strong must show there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Worthington, 166 S.W.3d at 573. Demonstrating that the alleged error had some conceivable effect on the outcome of the trial is not sufficient. Johnson v. State, 189 S.W.3d 640, 645 (Mo. App.2006). Rather, Mr. Strong must show that, absent the alleged error, there is a reasonable probability that he would have been found not guilty. U.S. v. Robinson, 301 F.3d 923, 925 (8th Cir.2002). With respect to the sentencing phase, Mr. Strong needs to show a reasonable probability that the jury would have concluded that the death penalty was not warranted. Anderson, 196 S.W.3d at 33. Mr. Strong does not attempt to establish Strickland prejudice. Instead, he asserts that trial counsel's failure to raise religion-based Batson objections to the State's peremptory strikes is a structural error that is presumptively prejudicial. Structural defects are constitutional deprivations ... affecting the framework within which the trial proceeds, rather than simply an error in the trial process itself. Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 310, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 113 L.Ed.2d 302 (1991). Without these basic protections, a criminal trial cannot reliably serve its function as a vehicle for determination of guilt or innocence, and no criminal punishment may be regarded as fundamentally fair. Id. (quotation omitted). One such structural defect is the trial by an adjudicator who is not impartial. Id. at 309, 111 S.Ct. 1246. Therefore, where a criminal defendant is deprived of the right to a fair and impartial jury, prejudice therefrom is presumed. Everage, 229 S.W.3d at 102. Nonetheless, in order to avail himself of this presumption, [the defendant] must establish that the errors complained of resulted in his trial by a jury that was not fair and impartial. Id. Mr. Strong relies on this Court's decisions in Knese v. State, 85 S.W.3d 628 (Mo. banc 2002), and Anderson v. State, 196 S.W.3d 28 (Mo. banc 2006), for his claim that counsel's failure to raise religion-based Batson challenges was a structural defect because it deprived him of the right to a fair and impartial jury. In Knese , defense counsel failed to review questionnaires and voir dire two jurors who indicated on the questionnaires that they would automatically vote to impose the death penalty if the defendant was convicted of murder. 85 S.W.3d at 632. This Court found that [t]his complete failure in jury selection is a structural error. Id. at 633. As such, defense counsel's failure was presumptively prejudicial, and the judgment was reversed as to the penalty phase. Id. In Anderson , defense counsel failed to strike a juror who indicated that he would vote for the death sentence unless defense counsel could convince him otherwise. 196 S.W.3d at 39. This Court found that [f]ailure to strike a juror that is unfit to serve because of such an improper predisposition is structural error, and [a] death sentence imposed by a jury tainted with structural error must be vacated. Id. at 40. As such, defense counsel's performance denied the defendant his right to a fair and impartial jury and constituted ineffective assistance of counsel as to the penalty phase. Id. at 42. Both Knese and Anderson are distinguishable from the case at bar. In those cases, defendants showed by a preponderance of the evidence that counsel's errors resulted in the empanelling of biased jurors, depriving the defendants of their right to a fair and impartial jury. In this case, however, Mr. Strong has not made such a showing. At most, Mr. Strong can only demonstrate that qualified venirepersons were excluded from the jury. In Young v. Bowersox, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit directly addressed the question at issue. 161 F.3d 1159 (8th Cir.1998). On appeal from the denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court, the defendant claimed that he received ineffective assistance because trial counsel failed to raise Batson challenges to the State's peremptory strikes of black venirepersons. Id. at 1160. Unable to show Strickland prejudice, the defendant asserted that counsel's failure to raise a Batson challenge was a structural defect rendering the entire trial unreliable so that prejudice must be presumed. Id. The Eighth Circuit rejected defendant's claim. It reasoned that, despite the defendant's contention that showing a reasonable probability of a different outcome was impossible, under Strickland , error by counsel does not warrant setting aside the judgment of a criminal proceeding on collateral attack if the error had no effect on the judgment. Id. at 1161. Since the defendant did not show a reasonable probability that the results of the proceeding would have been different had the black venirepersons been empaneled on the jury, the Court found that his ineffective assistance claim must fail. Id. The reasoning in Young is consistent with decisions of the Missouri court of appeals. See Scott, 183 S.W.3d at 248 (a movant is entitled to a presumption of prejudice resulting from counsel's ineffective assistance during the jury selection process only if the movant can show that a biased venireperson ultimately served on the jury); State v. Colbert, 949 S.W.2d 932, 944 (Mo.App.1997). In accordance with these authorities, this Court holds that counsel's failure to raise a Batson objection, absent any attempt by Mr. Strong to demonstrate that unqualified persons served on the jury, does not amount to a structural defect that entitles him to a presumption of prejudice. [6] This conclusion is consistent with this Court's finding of no plain error on direct appeal. Further, Mr. Strong makes no attempt to show that had counsel raised religion-based Batson objections, there is a reasonable probability that the outcome of the trial would have been different. Because Mr. Strong has failed to establish that trial counsel's alleged defects prejudiced him, the motion court did not error in denying his claim for ineffective assistance of counsel.