Opinion ID: 2495866
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Analysis of Batson Challenges

Text: ¶ 15. While not necessarily dispositive, [22] each of the State's reasons has been upheld by this Court as being race-neutral. [23] However, the trial court failed to make on-the-record determinations as to each challenge, and the State offered demeanor-based reasons for striking two jurors, Lockett and Nickson. So we must determine whether the requirements of Snyder have been violated. ¶ 16. While the State offered a demeanor-based reason as one of two explanations for striking Juror Nickson, the trial judge himself included the incomplete jury questionnaire as part of the record. Therefore, the record supports the nondemeanor-based, race-neutral reason for Juror Nickson's exclusion. Furthermore, the State offered only a demeanor-based reason for its strike of Juror Lockett, so the trial court must have credited this race-neutral reason. In accord with Snyder, the record supports the race-neutral reasons offered by the State for its strike of Jurors Lockett and Nickson. ¶ 17. Furthermore, [t]his Court must consider the overall context of the reasons given for peremptory strikes. [24] Davis failed to meet his burden of proof and persuasion before the trial court and this Court. The record contains no evidence regarding the racial composition of the jury panels or the petit jury that could help determine whether the State's reasons were actually pretextual. And Davis failed to offer any rebuttal to the State's proffered reasons for striking the six jurors. We find nothing in the record which demonstrates that the trial court erred in accepting the State's race-neutral reasons for striking each juror. [25]