Opinion ID: 1722483
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Objections to Peremptory Challenges by the Defense

Text: In Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986), the Court held that the equal protection provision of the Constitution prohibits a prosecutor's exercise of a peremptory challenge in the trial of a black criminal defendant to exclude a black prospective juror on the basis of the juror's race. See also La.Code Crim. Proc. art. 795. In the analysis outlined by the Court, the defendant who objects to a peremptory challenge first must establish a prima facie case of discrimination by the prosecutor. Upon such a showing, the burden shifts to the prosecutor to offer a racially neutral explanation for the challenge. Batson, 476 U.S. at 97, 106 S.Ct. 1712. The trial judge then has the duty to determine whether the defendant has established purposeful racial discrimination. Id. at 98, 106 S.Ct. 1712. The Court has extended the Batson prohibition of racially discriminatory peremptory challenges in other contexts. In Powers v. Ohio, 499 U.S. 400, 111 S.Ct. 1364, 113 L.Ed.2d 411 (1991), the Court held that the prosecutor in the trial of a white criminal defendant is prohibited from excluding black jurors on the basis of race. In Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co., 500 U.S. 614, 111 S.Ct. 2077, 114 L.Ed.2d 660 (1991), the Court held that private litigants in a civil case cannot exercise peremptory challenges in a racially discriminatory manner. In Georgia v. McCollum, 505 U.S. 42, 112 S.Ct. 2348, 120 L.Ed.2d 33 (1992), the Court, focusing on the protection of prospective jurors from discrimination in violation of their right to equal protection of the law, held that a criminal defendant may not use peremptory challenges in a racially discriminatory manner. After the McCollum decision, which involved a white defendant's striking black venire persons, this court in State v. Knox, 609 So.2d 803 (La.1992), interpreted McCollum to apply when a black criminal defendant challenges a white venireman and held that the McCollum rationale prohibits black defendants from exercising peremptory challenges to exclude white prospective jurors. Under the Batson analysis, as applicable also to peremptory challenges by the defense under McCollum and Knox, the ultimate burden of persuasion remains on the party objecting to the challenge to prove purposeful discrimination. Purkett v. Elem, 514 U.S. 765, 767-68, 115 S.Ct. 1769, 131 L.Ed.2d 834 (1995)(per curiam); Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 359, 111 S.Ct. 1859, 114 L.Ed.2d 395 (1991). The trial judge ultimately determines whether the proffered race-neutral reason is plausible, persuasive or substantiated by the record. State v. Green, 94-0887, p. 9; 655 So.2d 272, 289 (La.1995). [T]he proper inquiry in the final stage of the Batson analysis is not whether the [challenger] has disproved the existence of purposeful discrimination suggested by the [opponent's] prima facie case; rather, the question is whether the [opponent's] proof, when weighed against the [challenger's] proffered `race-neutral' reasons, is strong enough to persuade the trier-of-fact that such discriminatory intent is present. Green at 29; 655 So.2d at 290. The ultimate focus of the Batson inquiry is on the challenger's intent at the time of the strike. Green at p. 2; 655 So.2d at 287. The trial court should examine all of the evidence available. Patterns of strikes and other statements or actions by the challenger during the voir dire may support a finding of discriminatory intent. Green at 24; 655 So.2d at 288. See also State v. Thompson, 516 So.2d 349, 353 (La.1987) (quoting from Batson ). Whether there has been intentional racial discrimination is a question of fact. Hernandez, 500 U.S. at 364, 111 S.Ct. 1859. A reviewing court should afford great deference to the trial judge's evaluation of discriminatory intent and should not reverse unless the evaluation is clearly erroneous. Hernandez, 500 U.S. at 364, 111 S.Ct. 1859. As the Court in Batson explained: Since the trial judge's findings in the context under consideration here largely will turn on evaluation of credibility, a reviewing court ordinarily should give those findings great deference. Batson, 476 U.S. at 98, 106 S.Ct. 1712.