Opinion ID: 1684864
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 16

Heading: Mattie Pearl Cooper

Text: When the State exercised its peremptory challenge against Mattie Pearl Cooper, defense counsel raised a Batson challenge and asserted that Ms. Cooper was the second black person that the state has excused, which would exhibit a pattern of excusing people on the basis of their race. The State, upon prompting by the circuit court, explained that Ms. Cooper gave an uncanny account of what the facts of this case would be and said she didn't know anything about this case, although she claims to be one of the best friends of the grandmother of the defendant. The State further commented that it had participated in many prosecutions of Ms. Cooper's sons and had sent them to the penitentiary. The circuit court concluded that two race-neutral reasons had been provided by the State. We agree with the circuit court.