Opinion ID: 1629429
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Statistical argument

Text: The appellate court found the state used seven of the eight peremptory challenges exercised to remove non-white prospective jurors. [10] From a purely statistical perspective, the court of appeal found the state used 87% of its peremptory strikes to challenge non-white prospective jurors, in a venire where non-white prospective jurors comprised less than 19% of the prospective jurors. Jacobs, 2007-887 p. 13, 13 So.3d at 688. The appellate court, with reference to Miller-El, f[ound] it unlikely that the disparity in the present case was pure chance. Id. From a purely statistical standpoint, we would agree. However, we have more than a bare statistical viewpoint to gauge the appropriateness of the peremptory challenges in this case. For three of those peremptory challenges, the appellate court found there was no valid Batson claim that would invalidate the strike, i.e. for Melanie Auzenne, Ivory Jordan, and Virgie Stevenson. As previously discussed, our review of the two peremptory challenges which the court of appeal determined were motivated by a racially-discriminatory intent cannot be supported as such. Consequently, we have found that, after a comprehensive review of these issues, five of the seven state peremptory challenges of non-white prospective jurors did not evince a racially-discriminatory intent. Thus, the statistical argument fails to have merit upon further inquiry.