Opinion ID: 1096122
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: did the trial court err by refusing to quash the venire panels after the prosecutor used his peremptory challenges to exclude blacks from the jury?

Text: The prosecutor exercised peremptory challenges to strike five (5) black prospective jurors, leaving only two (2) black alternates. The defendant moved to quash the jury panel because of the prosecutor's alleged systematic exclusion of blacks. This motion was overruled. A renewed motion was likewise overruled. The prosecutor later went on record with reasons for his exclusion of the 5 black prospective jurors. Prospective juror Annie Henrietta Boone was struck because she was 71 years old. Prospective juror Glen Tyrone Chisolm was struck because he indicated during voir dire that he knew Donald Abram. Prospective juror Larry Lendell Rawls was struck because he had a first cousin who served as a juror in the trial of Abram's co-defendant, Herman Barnes. Prospective juror Brown was struck because he indicated he knew Donald Abram. There was no explanation regarding the fifth black prospective juror. While the case was pending on appeal, the United States Supreme Court decided the case of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). Batson held in sum that a prosecutor's use of peremptory challenges to systematically exclude blacks from a jury trying a black defendant may be constitutionally impermissible. Finding Abram's appeal in the proper window, the Court remanded this case to the lower for a Batson hearing, with the following instructions: Under the Harper rationale, this case must be remanded to the lower court to determine if the appellant can establish a prima facie case of the constitutionally impermissible exclusion of the black jurors. The prosecutor must then enumerate neutral, non-racial explanations for those peremptory challenges, which the appellant may rebut, if [he] can. If purposeful discrimination is found, the lower court must order a new trial; if it is not found, the cause should be certified to this Court, along with the record of the hearing and finding of fact by the lower court. Abram v. State, 523 So.2d 1018, 1019 (Miss. 1988) (citations omitted). The case was returned to this Court, obviously signifying that no purposeful discrimination was found by the lower court. In reviewing this issue, we recognize that the State may rebut the defendant's prima facie case with non-racial explanations which `need not rise to the level of justifying exercise of a challenge for cause' ... but may not include the prosecutor's `assumption  or his intuitive judgment  that they [black jurors] would be partial to the defendant because of their shared race.' Goggins v. State, 529 So.2d 649, 651-52 (Miss. 1988), citing Lockett v. State, 517 So.2d 1346, 1352 (Miss. 1988) and Williams v. State, 507 So.2d 50, 52 (Miss. 1987). As noted above, the State originally offered non-racial reasons for the exclusion of 4 out of the 5 black prospective jurors. On May 2, 1988, and again on September 26, 1988, a hearing was held by the circuit court where the State again offered reasons for the exclusion of the 5 black prospective jurors. Regarding prospective juror Annie Henrietta Boone, the prosecutor offered three reasons for her exclusion: (1) because she was 71 years old, leading the prosecutor to believe she would have difficulty serving in a potentially protracted trial, (2) because she was inattentive during voir dire, and (3) because she lived in the Hub Community which led prosecutors to believe she probably knew Abram's family. Regarding prospective juror Peggy J. Smith, the prosecutor offered two reasons for her exclusion: (1) because her brother had been prosecuted for capital murder in 1983, and ultimately was convicted and sentenced for manslaughter, and (2) because prosecutor's were given the indication during voir dire that she had a problem with the death penalty. Regarding prospective juror Glen Tyrone Chisolm, the prosecutor offered the following reasons for his exclusion: (1) because he knew the defendant to the extent his vote might be affected, (2) because he was related to Darnell Rawls, a person who had earlier been prosecuted for the capital murder of a law enforcement officer, and (3) because of information from former Sheriff Forbes that Chisolm had brushed with the law as a juvenile. Regarding prospective juror Larry Lendell Rawls, the prosecutor offered the following reasons for his exclusion: (1) because he too was related to Darnell Rawls, and (2) because Larry Rawls' first cousin served on the jury in one of the trials of Herman Barnes, Abram's co-defendant. Regarding prospective juror Wilbur Brown, the prosecutor offered the following reasons for his exclusion: (1) because he lived in the Hub community and knew Donald Abram, and (2) because Brown was 72 or 73 years old, and like prospective juror Boone, was inattentive during voir dire, leading prosecutors to believe he couldn't effectively serve for the duration of a potentially protracted trial. The prosecutor added later that Brown was objectionable because he did not fill out the questionnaire properly. In our opinion, the State adequately rebutted Abram's prima facie case, and the trial court correctly denied relief.