Opinion ID: 1631088
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: peremptory strike of juror 764

Text: The Appellant's fourth claim of error arises from the Commonwealth's peremptory strike of Juror 764. The Appellant argues the Commonwealth struck the juror for discriminatory purposes in violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 96-98, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). In evaluating this claim in light of the Batson three-step process, we find no error. Id. The trial court, sua sponte, required both the Commonwealth and trial counsel for the Appellant to disclose any jurors selected for peremptory strikes who were African-American (and female) and to explain their reasoning for the strikes. Regarding his strike of Juror 764, the attorney for the Commonwealth stated that the juror lived in a high-crime area and that her participation in the trial would put her in a tight spot. Appellant objected, stating that the prosecutor did not offer a nondiscriminatory reason. The trial judge accepted the prosecutor's explanation as race-neutral and overruled the objection. Ordinarily, the Appellant would bear the initial responsibility under Batson to make a prima facie showing of purposeful discrimination by the Commonwealth in the exercise of its peremptory strikes. This Appellant's duty, however, was rendered moot by the trial court's request for explanation and ruling on the strike and so we need not tarry on this issue. Commonwealth v. Snodgrass, 831 S.W.2d 176, 178 (Ky.1992) (citing Batson, 476 U.S. at 96-98, 106 S.Ct. at 1722-1724). Once the prima facie showing was made, or as in this case, the trial court made a request for explanation, the Commonwealth, according to Batson , then bore the burden of offering its race-neutral reason for striking Juror 764 (i.e., Juror 764 lived in a high-crime area). Batson, 476 U.S. at 80, 106 S.Ct. at 1714. Once the Commonwealth gave its reasoning and such was acceptable to the trial court, the burden shifted to the Appellant to rebut the neutrality of the reasoning. The Appellant objected to the strike as not based on nondiscriminatory grounds, but failed to offer any further argument or evidence of purposeful discrimination. Unless a discriminatory intent is inherent in the prosecutor's explanation, the reason offered will be deemed race-neutral. Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 360, 111 S.Ct. 1859, 114 L.Ed.2d 395 (1991). We are, thus, not persuaded that the Appellant met his subsequent burden to provide further evidence on which the trial court could determine the Commonwealth's peremptory strike to be discriminatory. See e.g. United States v. Uwaezhoke, 995 F.2d 388, 394 (3d Cir.1993) (holding that a prosecutor may rationally believe that a juror who lives in a bad neighborhood may fear retaliation for her verdict or she may have had unpleasant contact with police). Because the trial court is the best judge of the Commonwealth's motives in exercising its peremptory strikes, great deference is given to the court's ruling. See Wells v. Commonwealth, 892 S.W.2d 299, 303 (Ky. 1995) (the trial court is in the best position to determine the true intent behind the Commonwealth's peremptory challenges); Snodgrass, 831 S.W.2d at 179 (the trial court may accept at face value the explanation given by the prosecutor for his strikes, depending on his demeanor and credibility). The trial court's decision on the ultimate question of discriminatory intent represents a finding of fact of the sort accorded great deference, Wells, 892 S.W.2d at 303, and must be accepted unless they are clearly erroneous. Stanford v. Commonwealth, 793 S.W.2d 112, 114 (Ky.1990). The trial court's determination in this case deserves no less deference and we find no reason to disturb its ruling. Although the dissent takes issue with both the reason proffered by the Commonwealth as well as the trial court's acceptance of living in a high crime area as being race-neutral, we note that the Commonwealth's attorney in this case peremptorily struck a total of nine jurors. Of those nine, four were African-American. The Commonwealth offered as justification for the other three jurors struck that two of them were church friends of defense counsel, and the third had been represented by defense counsel on a prior occasion. In short, the Commonwealth found it necessary to strike only one African-American juror on the basis of where that juror lived. While we make no finding as to the veracity of the reason proffered, we do note that three African-American jurors were left in the remaining juror pool, and of those three, two actually served on the jury, which found Appellant guilty as charged. Under these circumstances, we cannot find error in the trial court's decision.