Opinion ID: 1699278
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Jury Selection: Batson challenges

Text: Defendant alleges the State exercised its peremptory challenges in a manner aimed to exclude prospective African-American jurors thereby violating Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69(1986). Under Batson, a defendant must first establish a prima facie case of discrimination by showing facts and relevant circumstances which raise an inference that the State used its peremptory challenges to exclude potential jurors on account of race. The burden of production then shifts to the State to come forward with a race-neutral explanation, and if a race-neutral explanation is tendered, the trial court then must decide, in step three, whether the defendant has proven purposeful racial discrimination. Purkett v. Elem, 514 U.S. 765, 115 S.Ct. 1769, 131 L.Ed.2d 834 (1995) (Per Curiam); see State v. Collier, 553 So.2d 815 (La.1989). The second step need not demand an explanation that is persuasive, or even plausible, and unless a discriminatory intent is inherent in the prosecutor's explanation, the reason offered will be deemed race-neutral. Purkett, 514 U.S. at 767, 115 S.Ct. 1769. The ultimate burden of persuasion remains on the defendant to prove purposeful discrimination. Id.; see Batson; Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 111 S.Ct. 1859, 114 L.Ed.2d 395(1991). A trial court's determination pertaining to purposeful discrimination rests largely on credibility evaluations, and is thus entitled to great deference by the reviewing court. Batson, 476 U.S. at 99, 106 S.Ct. 1712, n21. In the case sub judice, the trial court entertained the State's race-neutral reasons for the exclusions without making a finding of whether defendant had made a prima facie showing of purposeful racial discrimination. In this situation, the issue of whether the defense established a prima facie case of discrimination is moot. See State v. Green, 94-0887, p. 25 (La.5/22/95), 655 So.2d 272, 288 (applying Hernandez, 500 U.S. at 352, 111 S.Ct. 1859, and concluding that once the trial court has demanded race-neutral reasons for his peremptory strikes from the prosecutor, the issue of a prima facie case of discrimination becomes moot). The equal protection analysis in the present case therefore begins with Batson's second step in which any response will qualify as race-neutral unless a discriminatory intent is inherent in the prosecutor's explanation. Hernandez, 500 U.S. at 352, 111 S.Ct. 1859. A. Anthony Moss: With regard to prospective juror Moss, the State explained he had played college football at Louisiana State University and later professional football in the National Football League and he was concerned about the prospect of having a seated juror who had experienced the lifestyle of a professional athlete. More importantly, it stated Moss indicated he would require something greater than proof beyond a reasonable doubt before voting to sentence defendant to death. B. Linda Sue Stevenson: As to venire person Stevenson, the State noted she had indicated her brother had been murdered 25 years ago and that the assailant had not been caught. Stevenson also stated she had two nephews who had been convicted for narcotics-related offenses and two brothers who had been arrested for DWI. Finally, the State claimed the prospective juror stated she had two children who were roughly the same age as defendant. The trial court found the State's race-neutral reasons for excusing Moss and Stevenson sufficient and overruled defendant's Batson objection without further explanation. C. Jacqueline Taylor: Finally, the trial court entertained defendant's objection to the State's use of a peremptory challenge to excuse Jacqueline Taylor. The State explained Taylor had several family members who had been convicted of crimes, among them a brother who had a murder conviction. The State also expressed concern because Taylor had indicated her relatives had sought revenge against an assailant after she had been the victim of an armed robbery. The State further noted the prospective juror had children who were the same age as defendant. Again, the trial court accepted the State's race-neutral explanation for excusing Taylor and overruled the defense objection. Defendant claims the trial court should not have accepted the State's race-neutral explanations because the State did not exercise peremptory challenges to Caucasian jurors whose responses during voir dire were similar to those recited by the State as reasons for excusing Moss, Stevenson and Taylor. From the outset, we note the record does not suggest the State exercised a disproportionately high percentage of its peremptory challenges to excuse African-American jurors. Rather, of the 93 venire persons examined in defendant's case, 13 were African-Americans. Eight of those 13 jurors were successfully challenged for cause. Of the five remaining, the State exercised three of its 11 peremptory challenges to remove the prospective jurors. At the beginning of trial, one African-American juror sat on the jury and another served as an alternate. However, when one seated Caucasian juror was excused for medical reasons during trial, the African-American alternate took her place and thus two African-Americans were among the panel of 12 that unanimously convicted defendant of first-degree murder and sentenced him to death. Cf. State v. Tart, 93-0772 (La.2/9/96), 672 So.2d 116, 141 (acknowledging that [a]lthough the mere presence of African-American jurors does not necessarily defeat a Batson claim, the unanimity requirement of a capital case sentencing recommendation may be considered.). Accordingly, although the trial court required the State to provide race-neutral explanations for the use of those peremptory challenges it exercised to remove prospective African-American jurors rendering the threshold Batson issue moot, we do not find defendant made a prima facie showing of discrimination. Notwithstanding, defendant fails to show the trial court abused its discretion. The State accurately described the venire persons' responses during voir dire when explaining to the trial court why he had challenged them. [23] Although the State may have accepted Caucasian jurors possessing some of the same characteristics the State cited as reasons for exercising the peremptory challenges to the excused jurors, given every venire member's unique responses, defendant fails to show the trial court erred when it accepted the race-neutral explanations. Cf. State v. Collier, 553 So.2d 815, 822 (La.1989) ([T]he fact that a prosecutor excuses one person with a particular characteristic ... and not another similarly situated person does not in itself show that the prosecutor's explanation was a mere pretext for discrimination. The accepted juror may have exhibited traits which the prosecutor could have reasonably believed would make him desirable as a juror.)(emphasis added). Notably, the State's peremptory challenges based on the body language of jurors alone have survived Batson challenges when accepted by a trial court, who possesses broad discretion in making the ultimate factual determination regarding purposeful discrimination. See, e.g., United States v. Bentley-Smith, 2 F.3d 1368, 1375 (5th Cir.1993) (The reason certainly is stronger if the attorney is able to articulate an objective fact, such as that the juror was slow in answering questions or had to have questions repeated .... [but] the judge is free, based upon all the information presented and that judge's eyewitness observation of counsel, to conclude that the reason is offered in good faith and not as a subterfuge for race.). The trial court may consider in this context the legitimacy of the State's race-neutral reasons for excluding other prospective jurors. Hernandez, 500 U.S. at 370, 111 S.Ct. 1859. In this case, no record evidence rebuts the determination of the trial court that the State's expressed reasons for exclusion were non-pretextual and legitimate grounds for exercise of the challenges against the three African-American jurors excused. This argument lacks merit.