Opinion ID: 1684346
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Batson violation

Text: During jury selection, the state used five of its six peremptory strikes to remove African-Americans, including venireperson Jones. Defense counsel objected to the strike of Jones, arguing that the strike was racially motivated. The state countered that Jones was stricken not because she was African-American, but because she had previously been cross-examined in a criminal trial and stated that she did not like the experience. Defense counsel then argued that the state's explanation was pretextual because the state did not strike Sestrich, a similarly situated white venire-person. Defense counsel also noted that, contrary to the state's assertion, Jones did not state that she did not like the experience of being cross-examined and the state did not ask her which party had cross-examined her. Jones also stated that her previous experience as a witness would not prevent her from being fair and impartial. The trial court agreed with defense counsel and denied the state's motion to strike venireperson Jones. The court found that there are similarly situated white jurors that were not stricken. The motion to strike will be denied ... under Batson .  The state responded by offering to strike a similarly situated white venireperson along with Jones. The trial court accepted the state's proposed remedy, and allowed the state to strike Sestrich while permitting the state's strike of Jones to stand. Sestrich was replaced by another white venireperson. The trial proceeded and Hampton was convicted.