Opinion ID: 178830
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Claim 4: Striking of Veniremember Chambers

Text: Cole argues that the prosecutor's use of a peremptory challenge to strike veniremember Chambers from the jury violated Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). During Cole's trial, after defense counsel made the Batson challenge to the strike of veniremember Chambers, the prosecutor offered the following reasons for why the strike was race-neutral: [t]he State's primary concern with Mr. Chambers is that he is divorced. And because of the facts and the dynamics of [sic] casethe record should reflect the State expects that the evidence that's introduced will show that Mr. Cole was divorced from his wife Terri Cole. There was a great deal of animosity between the two of them. I'm concerned that someone who is similarly situated to Mr. Cole in that he's divorced may be sympathetic to Mr. Cole and may not be sympathetic to Terri Cole, the victim in this case.... In addition to that, Your Honor, with regard to the death penalty he stated that he was not opposed to the death penalty, but not sure if he could do it or not. Furthermore, he has a cousin doing life in prison for a murder in Michigan. Trial Transcript (Tr.) at 569-70. Defense counsel responded that there was a white male paying child support and a different white male who was never married, neither of whom was struck by the state. She also generally objected to Chambers being struck on the basis of his divorced status. [3] The trial court summarily found the state's reasons race-neutral and denied the defense's Batson challenge. The Missouri Supreme Court adjudicated this claim on the merits and found that the prosecutor's reasons were race-neutral, not pretextual and noted that the similarly situated jurors proposed by the defense were not actually divorced, but one was simply subject to a child support order, though not married. The court concluded that these comparison jurors were not similarly situated and that Chambers' status as divorced, his somewhat equivocal answers about the death penalty, and having a cousin with a murder conviction were all reasons for the prosecution's use of the strike that did not violate Batson. Cole I, 71 S.W.3d at 173. In Batson, the Court held that the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution prohibits the use of peremptory challenges to exclude jurors on the basis of race. Batson, 476 U.S. at 89, 106 S.Ct. 1712. The Court uses a three-step process for evaluating whether the use of a peremptory challenge was based on purposeful discrimination. First, the defendant must make a prima facie case of racial discrimination. Second, after such showing is made, the state must suggest a race-neutral explanation for the use of the strike. Third, after a race-neutral reason is offered, the trial court must decide whether the defendant has shown purposeful discrimination. Snyder v. Louisiana, 552 U.S. 472, 476-77, 128 S.Ct. 1203, 170 L.Ed.2d 175 (2008). Within this framework, the defendant may rely on all of the circumstances that bear upon the issue of racial animosity to show purposeful discrimination. Id. at 478, 128 S.Ct. 1203. Whether a peremptory strike was motivated by race is ultimately a question of fact, Miller-El v. Dretke, 545 U.S. 231, 240, 125 S.Ct. 2317, 162 L.Ed.2d 196 (2005), and a state court finding is accorded a presumption of correctness under AEDPA, 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1). Thus, a Missouri state court's determination regarding the prosecution's intent may be set aside only if Cole rebuts the presumption of correctness by clear and convincing evidence. Id. Cole complains that the trial court did not make proper findings or do an adequate Batson evaluation by simply saying the reasons were race-neutral without saying they were true. His argument, as we understand it, is essentially that the trial court did not complete step three of the Batson analysis. He also argues that the state court adjudications violate the recent Supreme Court pronouncements in Snyder. While the trial court's Batson analysis may have been lacking, in addition to considering (and giving deference to) the trial court's Batson's findings, we also must consider the Missouri Supreme Court's analysis. Smulls v. Roper, 535 F.3d 853, 862 (8th Cir.2008), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 1905, 173 L.Ed.2d 1061 (2009). We find that the Missouri Supreme Court's analysis of Cole's Batson claim was not contrary to, nor an unreasonable application of, Supreme Court precedent. Its factual findings regarding the three proffered similarly situated jurors are accorded a presumption of correctness. As is the Missouri Supreme Court's finding that, given the marital status issue, Chambers' equivocation about the death penalty, and having a cousin serving time for a murder conviction, the prosecutor's reasons for striking Chambers were not race-based. Cole's arguments to the contrary, while well-presented, are not clear and convincing evidence that entitles him to overcome these presumptively correct findings. Furthermore, Cole cannot argue that the trial court or the Missouri Supreme Court unreasonably applied either Miller-El or Snyder, because neither had been decided at the time the state courts adjudicated his Batson issue. See Thaler v. Haynes, ___ U.S. ___, 130 S.Ct. 1171, 1174 n. 2, ___ L.Ed.2d ___ (2010) (per curiam). To the extent Cole simply argues that Snyder and Miller-El are factually and legally persuasive reasons why Batson was unreasonably applied in this case, we disagree. In Snyder, the petitioner challenged the strike of two black jurors during his state court prosecution for capital murder. The prosecutor's reasons for striking the first juror were that he looked nervous during voir dire and that his school and work obligations were arduous because he was a student teacher. The trial court allowed the strike without discussion. In reversing the denial of habeas corpus relief, the Court refused to presume that the trial court credited the prosecutor's representation that he struck the challenged juror based on the juror's demeanor because the trial court had made no factual findings concerning the demeanor. 552 U.S. at 479, 128 S.Ct. 1203. In Miller-El, prosecutors shuffled the jury at least twice and offered no explanation to rebut the defendant's evidence that this was done to limit the number of black persons on the jury. 545 U.S. at 265, 125 S.Ct. 2317. Ten of the eleven qualified black persons were peremptorily struck; two of those who were allegedly struck for being hesitant about applying the death penalty actually gave answers that an unbiased prosecutor seeking the death penalty would have readily accepted. Id. Most of the blacks were subject to questions and scripts designed to elicit answers that non-blacks generally were not. Id. at 265-66, 125 S.Ct. 2317. The egregious facts present in Miller-El were not present during Cole's trial. We have no evidence that there was jury shuffling, and a review of the record indicates that no different forms of questioning were posed to the black and non-black members of the jury pool. Snyder involved a demeanor-based challenge, which was not at issue in this case. There was no unreasonable application of Batson by the Missouri state courts, and neither Miller-El nor Snyder changes that result. The district court properly denied relief based upon this claim.