Opinion ID: 77026
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Jury Selection Process as a Whole

Text: 51 McNair presents three arguments intended to cast doubt on the jury selection process: (1) that the district attorney's office that handled McNair's prosecution has a history of racial discrimination; (2) that the prosecutor did not question ten of the eleven stricken African-American venire members about the specific area of concern that prompted the use of the peremptory challenge; and (3) that the prosecutor relied on vague and unsubstantiated notes from an assistant district attorney as the basis for challenging five of the venire members. We readily discount the latter two assertions. The prosecutor's failure to question most of the stricken African-American venire members about the specific concern that prompted the use of the challenge is not very persuasive in this case. For example, it is not likely to have been productive to question a juror about age or a prior misdemeanor or a bad reputation. Moreover, the prosecutor also struck white jurors without such specific questioning. With respect to McNair's assertion that the prosecutor relied on vague and unsubstantiated notes from his assistant, McNair fails to explain why a prosecutor's reliance on notes and information furnished by an assistant is any indication at all of racial bias. Furthermore, our review of the notes does not persuade us that they were unduly vague or unsubstantiated. Although McNair's assertion that the district attorney's office had a history of racial discrimination is a matter of some concern, we will consider that as part of our totality of the circumstances analysis after discussing McNair's challenges with respect to individual jurors.