Opinion ID: 1778765
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: willie manning was denied a fair trial because the state abused its peremptory challenges to strike black jurors in violation of batson v. kentucky.

Text: ś 107. Manning's eighth assignment of error alleges a violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986) by the prosecution in its use of its peremptory challenges. ś 108. The record reflects that after the prosecution used six peremptory challenges, four on blacks and two on white jurors, it tendered twelve jurors to Manning. At that time, defense counsel objected because the majority of the state's strikes were against blacks. The court required the State to state race neutral reasons for each of its peremptory strikes even though it found that there had not been a prima facie showing of racial discrimination. Then, the defense exercised its peremptories. It struck five white jurors. The State then asked the court to require the defense to state race neutral reasons for each of its peremptory strikes. The State then struck two more jurors, one white and one black, and submitted five more to the defense. The State again stated its race neutral reasons for the strikes. The defense then struck three more white jurors, and stated its race neutral reasons into the record. The prosecution then submitted three more jurors (all white) without exercising any peremptories. The defense struck two of them. The State used its ninth peremptory to excuse Juror # 42, a black female, and submitted the next two on the list, two white males. The defense requested no race neutral reason for the strike of Juror # 42, and the prosecution did not give one. The State used both of its alternate strikes, one against a black and one against a white. The defense did not ask for a race neutral reason for those strikes. At the end of jury selection, defense counsel objected to the racial composition of the jury. The judge offered to let the defense make the motion after he had had time to fully develop it, and the defense did so the next morning before the jury was sworn. ś 109. Under Batson, in order to make a prima facie showing of purposeful discrimination, the defendant must show (1) that Manning is a member of a cognizable racial group; (2) that the prosecutor exercised peremptory challenges to excuse a venire person of the defendant's race; and (3) that there is an inference that the venire persons were excluded on account of their race. Batson, 476 U.S. at 96, 106 S.Ct. 1712; Mack v. State, 650 So.2d 1289, 1296 (Miss. 1994). The burden thereafter shifts to the State to come forward with a race-neutral explanation for challenging the jurors. Id. at 1296. The reasons must be `related to the particular case to be tried.' Chisolm v. State, 529 So.2d 635, 638 (Miss.1988)(quoting Batson, 476 U.S. at 98, 106 S.Ct. 1712). The prosecutor's explanation need not rise to the level of a challenge for cause. Lockett v. State, 517 So.2d 1346, 1352 (Miss.1987)(citing Batson, 476 U.S. at 97, 106 S.Ct. 1712). ś 110. However, the United States Supreme Court has held that once a prosecutor has offered a race-neutral explanation for the peremptory challenges and the trial court has ruled on the ultimate question of intentional discrimination, the preliminary issue of whether the defendant had made a prima facie showing becomes moot. Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 359, 111 S.Ct. 1859, 114 L.Ed.2d 395 (1991). ś 111. In the case sub judice, the judge found that the defense had not established a prima facie showing of purposeful discrimination. However, he required the prosecution to state race-neutral reasons into the record. Additionally, he ruled that each of the reasons given by the prosecution was a race-neutral reason, and there was no intentional discrimination. Therefore, the issue of whether a prima facie showing was made is moot. ś 112. Manning now contests the striking of several jurors on the basis that the prosecution's reasons were pretextual. We find that, with the exception of one juror whom the prosecution offered no reason for striking, Manning has waived his right to contest the striking of these potential jurors because defense counsel offered no rebuttal to the prosecutor's challenges, and thus, failed to timely object to their dismissals so as to preserve this issue for review. Blue v. State, 674 So.2d 1184, 1212 (Miss.1996). Nonetheless, each potential juror will be discussed individually.