Opinion ID: 1778765
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 19

Heading: Shirley A. Wooten

Text: ś 123. The State's reason for striking this venire member was stated into the record. BY MR. ALLGOOD: If your Honor please, Shirley Wooten; she likewise indicated on her questionnaire that she did not know what she would do with the death penalty; uh, however, today she said that she could give it depending on the evidence. She the other day said she would do it. As a matter of fact, today she reiterated that, that ifâ she would do it if it was beyond a shadow of a doubt, and likewise, your Honor, she was, uhâ she came in at work, uh, before this happened, according to one of the deputy sheriffs here, before she got a summons for this jury, stating that she did not want to serve on this jury, that she absolutely did not want to serve. I intend to accommodate her and that is my reasons for ... challenging her. ś 124. Again, Manning is procedurally barred from asserting this claim for error for failure to rebut the prosecutor's reason for the strike as pretextual. Blue, supra . ś 125. Additionally, there were sufficient race neutral reasons for Wooten's strike. It is clear from a reading of the record that Wooten was equivocal concerning application of the death penalty. On her questionnaire, she stated that she had no opinion on the death penalty and that she did not know if she could ever give it. During voir dire, she stated that she could give the death penalty after she had heard all the evidence and weighed it. Then, during individual voir dire, Wooten said that if the evidence proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the defendant was guilty, she could give the death penalty. The prosecutor went on to clarify the difference between reasonable doubt and a shadow of a doubt, likening the latter to beyond all doubt. He asked her if he would have to prove his case beyond all doubt, and she responded Well, yes. Then, when Wooten was questioned by the defense she said that she would not hold the State to a higher burden of proof than reasonable doubt. ś 126. In Davis v. State, 551 So.2d 165, 171 (Miss.1989), the trial court found that the State's reasons for its strikes were race-neutral. One of those reasons was that a potential juror had vacillated on the death penalty. One day she was against it and the next day she was for it. This Court found that the trial judge's findings were not clearly erroneous. Also in Mack v. State, 650 So.2d 1289, 1300 (Miss.1994), the prosecutor's reasoning, that a potential juror had said that she would automatically vote against the death penalty and then proceeded to vacillate back and forth, was a race-neutral reason. ś 127. Wooten's equivocation on the death penalty was not pretextual or discriminatory, but was a race-neutral reason for her strike. Furthermore, Manning is procedurally barred from asserting this claim. We find no reversible error.