Opinion ID: 1501117
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Venireperson Joanne J.

Text: The prosecutor stated that he struck Joanne J. because she stated that she thought that life without parole was worse than the death penalty. Brown objected claiming that a male juror, Jeff R., had stated that he thought that life without parole was as bad as the death penalty. The trial court found that Jeff R. was not similarly situated to Joanne J. in that their statements showed that they had different values. While the existence of similarly situated male jurors who were not struck is some proof of pretext, it is not dispositive. State v. Barnett, 980 S.W.2d 297, 302 (Mo. banc 1998). The above reason is sufficiently gender-neutral and nonpretextual, and we defer to the hearing court ruling. See State v. Jones, 979 S.W.2d 171, 184 (Mo. banc 1998).