Opinion ID: 3012794
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Race-based Challenge

Text: In Batson, the Supreme Court held that “the Equal Protection Clause forbids the prosecutor to challenge potential jurors solely on account of their race . . .” 476 U.S. at 89. In Hernandez v. New York, the Court summarized the process to be followed in a criminal case when defense counsel challenges the government’s peremptory challenge: In Batson, we outlined a three-step process for evaluating claims that a prosecutor has used peremptory challenges in a manner violating the Equal Protection Clause. . . . First, the defendant must make a prima facie showing that the prosecutor has exercised peremptory challenges on the basis of race. Second, if the requisite showing has been made, the burden shifts to the prosecutor to articulate a raceneutral explanation for striking the jurors in question. Finally, the trial court must determine whether the defendant has carried his burden of proving purposeful discrimination. 500 U.S. 352, 358-59 (1991) (citations omitted). In order to make a prime facie showing, the defendant must show that the government has exercised peremptory challenges to remove members of a particular race from the venire.5 Batson, 476 U.S. at 96. When, as in this case, the 5. We note that DeJesus, a Hispanic man, is challenging the strikes of two African American jurors on the basis of their race. The racial difference between DeJesus and the stricken jurors is irrelevant for the purpose of posing a Batson challenge. See Powers, 499 U.S. at 416 (holding that “race is irrelevant to a defendant’s standing to object to the discriminatory use of peremptory challenges”). 10 government offers an explanation for its peremptory strikes before the district court has addressed the adequacy of the prima facie showing, “any issue regarding the existence of a prima facie showing of discrimination becomes moot . . . .” Uwaezhoke, 995 F.2d at 392; see also Hernandez, 500 U.S. at 359. Accordingly, we will turn to the second prong of the Batson analysis. At the second prong of the Batson analysis, we examine the government’s explanation to determine if it was facially race-neutral. The second step “does not demand an explanation that is persuasive, or even plausible.” Purkett v. Elem, 514 U.S. 765, 768 (1995). “Unless a discriminatory intent is inherent in the prosecutor’s explanation, the reason offered will be deemed race neutral.” Hernandez, 500 U.S. at 360. With respect to McBride, the government explained that the strike was based on the juror’s ability to forgive his cousin’s killer and a suspicion that the juror’s strong religious beliefs would prevent him from rendering judgment against another human being. (App. at 126). The government added that McBride had indicated on the juror questionnaire that he reads the Christian Book Dispatcher, holds several biblical degrees, and is a deacon in the local church, and that these factors tend to indicate that McBride would “hesitate to pass judgment on someone.” Id. at 127. With respect to Bates, the government noted that when the juror was brought “from the jury pool up into the box and throughout the duration,” the juror “looked the government’s way and then turned his eyes away several times.” Id. at 130. In addition to its worry about a possible anti-government prejudice, the government was concerned that Bates’ “fairly strong religious beliefs,” might prevent him from rendering judgment against another human being. Id. As evidence of Bates’ strong religious beliefs, the government cited Bates’ statements that he only reads the bible and holds an office in the church. Id. The District Court found the government’s race-neutral explanations to be facially valid. We agree with that finding, and, in any event, DeJesus does not challenge it on appeal. Instead, he argues that the government’s explanations were 11 pretextual, and that the District Court’s finding as to the third prong of the Batson analysis was clearly erroneous. With respect to the third prong, the District Court found that “the mix of reasons articulated by the prosecution team, and confirmed in several instances by counsel’s contemporaneous notes of the jurors’ characteristics, represent the true and sincere reasons. The defendant thus has not demonstrated that the government has engaged in purposeful discrimination on racial . . . grounds in excluding these jurors.” (App. at 35). Whether the government has engaged in impermissible discrimination during jury selection is a matter that is uniquely within the province of the trial judge. As the Supreme Court has noted, “[i]n the typical peremptory challenge inquiry, the decisive question will be whether counsel’s race-neutral explanation for a peremptory challenge should be believed. There will seldom be much evidence bearing on that issue, and the best evidence often will be the demeanor of the attorney who exercises the challenge. As with the state of mind of a juror, evaluation of the prosecutor’s state of mind based on demeanor and credibility lies ‘peculiarly within a trial judge’s province.’ ” Hernandez, 500 U.S. at 365 (quoting Wainwright v. Witt, 469 U.S. 412, 428 (1985)); see also Batson, 476 U.S. at 98 n.21. “We must accept the factual determination of the district court unless that determination ‘either (1) is completely devoid of minimum evidentiary support displaying some hue of credibility, or (2) bears no rational relationship to the supportive evidentiary data.’ ” Uwaezhoke, 995 F.2d at 394 (quoting Haines v. Liggett Group, Inc., 975 F.2d 81, 92 (3d Cir. 1992)). The government’s observation that Bates and McBride were highly involved in religious activities is supported by the record. In responding to the juror questionnaire, Bates said that he reads “a lot of bible literature, and the bible,” and that his hobbies “are church activities, and [he is] an officer of the church and trustee.” (App. at 91). Similarly, McBride said that he reads “the Press and magazines, the CBD Christian Book Distributor,” he has “several . . . biblical degrees,” and his hobbies are civic and churchrelated, including serving as a deacon, Sunday school 12 teacher, and member of the choir. Id. at 92-93. The government’s observation that McBride had forgiven his cousin’s killer is based on the following exchange: The Court: Is there anything about [the shooting of your cousin], and how it affects you, that makes it difficult for you to be a juror in this case? Juror #5: Ten years ago, yes. But today, no, because I’ve learned to forgive. Id. at 96. The government’s observation that Bates “looked the government’s way and then turned his eyes away several times” was included in the government’s voir dire notes. Id. at 130. Not only are the government’s reasons supported by the record, but they also bear a “hue of credibility.” Uwaezhoke, 995 F.2d at 394. The government used peremptory strikes to remove Bates, McBride, and Pressey from the jury. The common thread among these strikes was the government’s concern that the religious beliefs of the jurors as reflected by their reading choices, hobbies, statements, and demeanor in court would tend to make them unable or unwilling to pass judgment on another human being. The government’s concern stemmed in part from the fact that it did not strike juror Wood, who had strong religious convictions, during the voir dire for DeJesus’ first trial. (App. at 132-33). The first trial resulted in a hung jury and a mistrial, and the government speculated that “it may very well have been . . . some type of religious belief that infected or paraded into the jury’s province in the first trial.” Id. at 133. The government stated that it had “learned from the experience.” Id. The government’s stated concern about strong religious beliefs during voir dire for the second trial is credible given its suspicion regarding juror Wood’s religious views having caused the mistrial. Accordingly, there is no reason to disturb the District Court’s credibility determination. Hernandez, 500 U.S. at 365 (“As with the state of mind of a juror, evaluation of the prosecutor’s state of mind based on demeanor and credibility lies ‘peculiarly within a trial judge’s province.’ ”). Nonetheless, DeJesus argues that “the reasons offered by the government for the strikes . . . were completely 13 irrelevant to the stricken jurors’ ability to perform as jurors in a particular case.” (DeJesus’ Reply Brief at 1). This argument is not persuasive. Batson requires the party opposing a challenge to articulate a non-pretextual, raceneutral reason for exercising the strike. However, Batson does not require the party to show that the reason articulated is relevant to a juror’s suitability. In fact, peremptory strikes are available, in large part, because “. . . it is not feasible for lawyers to know much about individual jurors. Counsel must rely on educated guesses about probabilities based on their limited knowledge of a particular juror and their own life experiences.” Uwaezhoke, 995 F.2d at 394 n.5. DeJesus also raises a disparate impact argument with respect to the government’s reasons for striking Bates and McBride. He asserts that “[i]t is also clear that strong affinity to the Bible or bible studies is a characteristic identified with large segments of the African-American population. Consequently, peremptory strikes predicated upon nothing more than Bible-based Christian religious orientation, with no evidence of an effect on juror impartiality or ability, inevitably results in over-application to African-Americans. In short, the reason expressed, if applied uniformly, is a proxy for race which leads to the inescapable conclusion that the strikes of Bates and McBride were motivated by race.” (DeJesus’ Opening Brief at 26-27). The first problem with DeJesus’ disparate impact argument is that it was not raised during voir dire. Where, as here, the defendant did not rely “upon the alleged disparate impact of a tendered explanation, the trial judge [had no] duty to stop in the middle of the voir dire and consider whether the tendered explanation may have [had] such an impact.” Uwaezhoke, 995 F.2d at 393 n.4. The second problem with the disparate impact argument is that there is no evidentiary support for it in the record. Even assuming DeJesus is correct that “strong affinity to the Bible or bible studies is a characteristic identified with large segments of the African-American population,” there is nothing in the record to indicate that the government was aware of this correlation or had any intent to act on the 14 basis of such a correlation. Without proof to that effect, there is simply no merit to DeJesus’ post hoc disparate impact argument. See Hernandez, 500 U.S. at 359-60 (quoting Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp., 429 U.S. 252, 264-65 (1977)) (“Proof of racially discriminatory intent or purpose is required to show a violation of the Equal Protection Clause.’ ”); J.E.B., 511 U.S. at 143 (holding that “[e]ven strikes based on characteristics that are disproportionately associated with one gender could be appropriate absent a showing of pretext”). The government’s decision to strike Pressey and the final composition of the jury also negate DeJesus’ argument. Pressey, like Bates and McBride, listed religious activities and reading materials on his juror questionnaire. As it did with respect to Bates and McBride, the government used a peremptory strike to remove Pressey from the jury. Unlike Bates and McBride, however, Pressey was Caucasian. The use of a strike to remove Pressey gives credence to the government’s race-neutral explanation for striking Bates and McBride. Another factor that makes the government’s race-neutral explanation more believable is that one Hispanic and three African Americans were seated in the final jury, and the government had three peremptory strikes remaining.6 In sum, the District Court did not clearly err in concluding that the government’s explanations for striking Bates and McBride were not a pretext for racial discrimination.