Opinion ID: 1694843
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: whether the trial court erred in refusing to allow drake to exercise two of his peremptory challenges of white male jurors.

Text: ¶ 23. Drake exercised eleven peremptory challenges during the jury selection process. The targets of all but one of these were white male veniremen. The State voiced a Batson objection, and the trial court restored to the jury two of the veniremen, # 27 and # 40, after declining to accept Drake's race/gender-neutral reason for striking them. Drake's reason for his strikes against # 27 and # 40 was that the veniremen looked hard. ¶ 24. Drake contends that the trial court erred in requiring him to offer race/gender-neutral reasons for his strikes because the State failed to make a prima facie showing of purposeful discrimination and failed to show a pattern of strikes based upon race or gender. Though the record does not reflect the precise racial and gender makeup of the jury, it is clear that three black jurors served. ¶ 25. A party's peremptory challenge must pass constitutional muster. Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). In Georgia v. McCollum, 505 U.S. 42, 59, 112 S.Ct. 2348, 120 L.Ed.2d 33 (1992), the United States Supreme Court extended Batson protection to include strikes exercised by criminal defendants, and in J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel. T.B., 511 U.S. 127, 141, 114 S.Ct. 1419, 128 L.Ed.2d 89 (1994), the Court applied Batson to strikes based on gender. ¶ 26. The decisive question is whether the opponent of the strike has met the burden of showing that the proponent has engaged in a pattern of strikes based on race or gender, or in other words `the totality of the relevant facts gives rise to an inference of discriminatory purpose.' Henley v. State, 729 So.2d 232, 239 (Miss.1998) (quoting Batson, 476 U.S. at 94, 106 S.Ct. at 1721). Thus, in the case sub judice, only after the State presents a prima facie showing of a Batson violation does the burden shift to the defendant to present a race-neutral explanation for challenging the jurors. Mack v. State, 650 So.2d 1289, 1297 (Miss.1994). ¶ 27. Ten of the eleven peremptory strikes used by Drake were exercised against white male veniremen. Certainly this fact exhibits a pattern against white males. Such a circumstance creates an inference of purposeful discrimination. In Batson, the Supreme Court stated: In deciding whether the defendant has made the requisite showing, the trial court should consider all relevant circumstances. For example, a pattern of strikes against black jurors included in the particular venire might give rise to an inference of discrimination. Similarly, the prosecutor's questions and statements during voir dire examination and in exercising his challenges may support or refute an inference of discriminatory purpose. These examples are merely illustrative. We have confidence that trial judges, experienced in supervising voir dire, will be able to decide if the circumstances concerning the prosecutor's use of peremptory challenges creates a prima facie case of discrimination against black jurors. Batson, 476 U.S. at 96-97, 106 S.Ct. at 1723. In the case sub judice the facts and all relevant circumstances are sufficient to raise an inference of purposeful discrimination. As the trial court noted, Drake's attorney struck an entire class.... The State made its prima facie case. ¶ 28. Further, the race/genderneutral reason offered by Drake in rebuttal to the State's challenge is insufficient. Drake asserts that the two veniremen [l]ooked kind of hard. Drake does not explain his meaning, leaving the reason to appear pretextual. We find no merit to this assignment of error.