Opinion ID: 1638526
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: whether the trial court erred in denying chamberlin's batson challenge.

Text: ¶ 55. During jury selection, Chamberlin objected to the State's use of seven of its twelve peremptory challenges to strike black individuals from the jury panel. The United States Supreme Court has held that the equal protection clause prohibits exclusion of persons from participation in jury service on account of their race. Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 85, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). This Court gives great deference to a trial court's determination under Batson because it is based largely on credibility. Batson, 476 U.S. at 98, n. 21, 106 S.Ct. 1712; Flowers v. State, 947 So.2d 910, 917 (Miss.2007) (citing Berry v. State, 802 So.2d 1033, 1037 (Miss.2001)). This Court will not overrule a trial court's Batson ruling absent finding the ruling was clearly erroneous or against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Flowers, 947 So.2d at 917. ¶ 56. The Batson inquiry has three steps. Batson, 476 U.S. at 93-94, 106 S.Ct. 1712. First, the trial court must determine whether the defendant has made a prima facie showing that the prosecutor exercised a peremptory challenge on the basis of race. Rice v. Collins, 546 U.S. 333, 338, 126 S.Ct. 969, 163 L.Ed.2d 824 (2006) (citing Batson, 476 U.S. at 96-97, 106 S.Ct. 1712). Inequality under Batson draws from the general equal protection principle that the `invidious quality' of governmental action claimed to be racially discriminatory `must ultimately be traced to a racially discriminatory purpose.' Batson, 476 U.S. at 93, 106 S.Ct. 1712. In order to establish a prima facie case, Chamberlin must show that the facts and circumstances give rise to the inference that the prosecutor exercised the peremptory challenges with a discriminatory purpose. Strickland v. State, 980 So.2d 908, 915 (Miss.2008); Tanner v. State, 764 So.2d 385, 393 (Miss.2000) (citing Bush v. State, 585 So.2d 1262, 1268 (Miss.1991)); Randall v. State, 716 So.2d 584, 587 (Miss. 1998) (citing Batson, 476 U.S. at 94, 106 S.Ct. 1712). In deciding whether the defendant has made the requisite showing, the trial court should consider all relevant circumstances. Batson, 476 U.S. at 96, 106 S.Ct. 1712 (emphasis added). The Batson doctrine is not concerned with racial, gender, or ethnic balance on petit juries, and it does not hold that a party is entitled to a jury composed of or including members of a cognizable group. Rather, it is concerned exclusively with discriminatory intent on the part of the lawyer against whose use of his peremptory strikes the objection is interposed. Strickland, 980 So.2d at 915 (quoting Ryals v. State, 794 So.2d 161, 164 (Miss. 2001)). Therefore, the sheer number of strikes exercised against a cognizable group of jurors is not, in itself, dispositive. Strickland, 980 So.2d at 916 (citing Flowers, 947 So.2d at 935). ¶ 57. Once a prima facie case has been made, the prosecutor must present race-neutral reasons for the strikes. The reasons need not be persuasive, or even plausible; so long as the reasons are not inherently discriminatory, they will be deemed race-neutral. Rice, 546 U.S. at 338, 126 S.Ct. 969 (citing Purkett v. Elem, 514 U.S. 765, 767-768, 115 S.Ct. 1769, 131 L.Ed.2d 834 (1995) (per curiam)). Once the prosecutor proffers his explanation, and the Court determines that it is race-neutral and satisfies the prosecution's step-two burden of articulating a nondiscriminatory reason for the strike, the inquiry should proceed to step three, where the trial court determines whether the prosecutor was motivated by discriminatory intent. Purkett, 514 U.S. at 769, 115 S.Ct. 1769. ¶ 58. Chamberlin objected numerous times to the State's use of challenges, ultimately using seven out of twelve challenges against blacks. The court allowed Chamberlin to argue her prima facie case. Counsel asserted: My prima facie case is that seven out of twelve constitutes a pattern, and particularlyI mean of those that were available of the first, I believe seven of the first eight strikes went to African American jurors. I submit that constitutes a pattern with an inference of discrimination. The court then directed the State to provide race-neutral reasons for its challenges exercised against blacks. The State offered race-neutral reasons for each juror it struck, explaining that each black juror was excluded based on his/her answers to the juror questionnaire, which the State compiled and both parties agreed to. ¶ 59. The State struck juror number five because she answered that she had personal views against the death penalty that would prevent her or impair her from reaching a verdict; her beliefs were so strong that she could not vote for death for the defendant; she was uncertain whether she was emotionally capable of announcing her verdict; she was uncertain whether she would hold the State to a greater burden; and she would need to be one-hundred-percent certain of the defendant's guilt. ¶ 60. The State struck juror number thirty-eight because she was uncertain that she was emotionally capable of announcing her verdict; she was uncertain whether she would require a greater burden from the State; and she was uncertain whether she would need to be one-hundred-percent certain of the defendant's guilt. ¶ 61. The State struck juror number eighty-one because she answered that she was uncertain whether she was emotionally capable of standing up and announcing her verdict in court; she was uncertain whether she could follow the law given by the court; she would hold the State to a greater burden; she would require one-hundred-percent certainty of guilt; she would be less likely to find someone guilty if there was the possibility of the death penalty; and she had a family member who had been recently convicted on a drug charge in that county. The State conducted an individual voir dire of juror number eighty-one, in which she confirmed several of the questionnaire answers which the State proffered for striking her. ¶ 62. The State struck juror number ninety-two because she answered that she would require one-hundred-percent certainty of guilt; she would have a problem voting for the death penalty without concrete evidence; and she would not feel comfortable seeking the death penalty because of fear of retaliation to herself or her family. ¶ 63. The State struck juror number 104 because he answered that he was uncertain whether he was emotionally capable of standing up in court and announcing his verdict; he was uncertain whether he would hold the State to a greater burden; and he would want to be one-hundred-percent certain of guilt. ¶ 64. The State struck juror number 106 because he answered that he was uncertain whether he was emotionally capable of rendering a verdict; he was uncertain whether he would hold the State to a greater burden; and he would require one-hundred-percent certainty. ¶ 65. The State struck juror number 117 because she answered that she could not set aside her personal opposition or hesitancy to the death penalty and evaluate the case based on what the judge would provide and the facts and circumstances presented; she would require the State to meet a greater burden of proof; and she was uncertain whether she would require one-hundred-percent certainty of guilt. ¶ 66. Chamberlin asserts that the trial court erred first by not making a clear determination that Chamberlin had established a prima facie case of discrimination by showing that the State had exercised seven of its twelve peremptory challenges to strike black jurors from the regular panel. This argument is moot since all three steps of the Batson analysis were completed. See Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 359, 111 S.Ct. 1859, 114 L.Ed.2d 395 (1991). The United States Supreme Court has held that under Batson, [o]nce 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, 500 U.S. at 359, 111 S.Ct. 1859. In Thomas v. State, 818 So.2d 335, 342-45 (Miss.2002), where the trial judge did not make a definitive ruling on whether the objector had made a prima facie case, this Court held that such a ruling was moot, since the judge decided the ultimate question of whether the State exercised its challenges with a discriminatory purpose. ¶ 67. For the first four jurors challenged, jurors five, thirty-eight, eighty-one, and ninety-two, Chamberlin offered no rebuttal to the State's reasons. As the State asserts, Chamberlin is procedurally barred from arguing pretext as to the first four jurors, for whom she did not argue pretext to the trial court. See Flowers, 947 So.2d at 921-922 (citing Evans v. State, 725 So.2d 613, 632 (Miss. 1997) (finding that the defendant's argument of pretext was barred from consideration on appeal because the argument as to that particular juror was presented for the first time on appeal)). ¶ 68. On the remaining three challenged jurors, jurors 104, 106, and 117, Chamberlin argued reasons why they would make good jurors but failed to rebut the specific reasons proffered by the State for striking them. The objector must come forward with proof when given the opportunity for rebuttal. Thomas v. State, 818 So.2d at 344. [I]f the defendant offers no rebuttal, the trial court is forced to examine only the reasons given by the State. Thorson v. State, 895 So.2d 85, 119 (Miss.2004) (quoting Walker v. State, 815 So.2d 1209, 1215 (Miss.2002) (quoting Bush, 585 at 1268)). Because Chamberlin failed to offer any proof that the State's reasons were pretextual, the State's reasons for the challenges were the only considerations before the trial judge. See Thomas, 818 So.2d at 345. ¶ 69. This Court must then evaluate the persuasiveness of the justification proffered by the prosecutor, while keeping in mind that the ultimate burden of persuasion regarding racial motivation rests with, and never shifts from, the opponent of the strike. Rice, 546 U.S. at 338, 126 S.Ct. 969; Purkett, 514 U.S. at 768, 115 S.Ct. 1769. ¶ 70. The State exercised seven out of twelve peremptory strikes against blacks and five against venire persons who were not black. The State tendered a total of four potential black jurors, two of whom the defendant struck. The resulting jury included two black veniremen. The State offered reasons for the strikes that the trial court considered race-neutral, and the defense failed to rebut those reasons. Therefore, the defense did not meet its burden to show that the facts and circumstances give rise to the inference that the prosecutor exercised the peremptory challenges with a discriminatory purpose. Considering the totality of the evidence, the trial court's ruling on Chamberlin's Batson challenge was neither clearly erroneous nor against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.