Opinion ID: 702369
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Cognizable Group

Text: 11 Because African-American women remained on the jury, Turner focuses on the exclusion of black men from the jury as the basis for a Batson violation. However, neither the Supreme Court nor the Ninth Circuit has recognized that the combination of race and gender, such as black males, may establish a cognizable group for Batson purposes. See United States v. Changco, 1 F.3d 837, 839 (9th Cir.) (declining to address whether minority women are an identifiable class), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 619, 126 L.Ed.2d 583 (1993). In fact, the two circuits that have addressed this issue have held that a defendant may not seek Batson relief on the basis of exclusion of black men or black women. See United States v. Nichols, 937 F.2d 1257, 1262 (7th Cir.1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1080, 112 S.Ct. 989, 117 L.Ed.2d 151 (1992); United States v. Dennis, 804 F.2d 1208, 1210 (11th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1037, 107 S.Ct. 1973, 95 L.Ed.2d 814 (1987). 12 Although the issue of whether African-American men could constitute a Batson class likely is worthy of consideration in light of recent holdings that gender as well as race is an impermissible basis for peremptory challenges, see, J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel. T.B., --- U.S. ----, ----, 114 S.Ct. 1419, 1426, 128 L.Ed.2d 89 (1994); United States v. DeGross, 960 F.2d 1433, 1439 (9th Cir.1992), we decline to consider this issue because any new rule defining what constitutes a cognizable group could not be applied to Turner's case. See Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288, 299-300, 316, 109 S.Ct. 1060, 1069-1070, 1078, 103 L.Ed.2d 334 (1989); Echlin v. LeCureux, 995 F.2d 1344, 1351 (6th Cir.1993) (finding that Teague precludes application of a new rule extending Batson to allow white defendants to challenge the exclusion of white jurors), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 552, 126 L.Ed.2d 453 (1993). Accordingly, we limit our inquiry to whether Turner has made a prima facie case of impermissible exclusion of African-American jurors as a class, with no reference to gender. See Changco, 1 F.3d at 839.