Opinion ID: 1248901
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: jury voir dire issues

Text: By another question presented, defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motions to dismiss jury panels because defendant's race was disproportionately underrepresented in the composition of the jury panels. We disagree. Our state and federal Constitutions protect a criminal defendant's right to be tried by a jury of his peers. State v. Bowman, 349 N.C. 459, 467, 509 S.E.2d 428, 434 (1998) (citing U.S. Const. amend. VI; N.C. Const. art. I, §§ 24, 26), cert. denied, 527 U.S. 1040, 119 S.Ct. 2403, 144 L.Ed.2d 802 (1999). This constitutional guarantee assures that members of a defendant's `own race have not been systematically and arbitrarily excluded from the jury pool which is to decide [his] guilt or innocence.' Id. (quoting State v. McNeill, 326 N.C. 712, 718, 392 S.E.2d 78, 81 (1990)). However, the Sixth Amendment does not guarantee a defendant the right to a jury composed of members of a certain race or gender. State v. Norwood, 344 N.C. 511, 527, 476 S.E.2d 349, 355 (1996), cert. denied, 520 U.S. 1158, 117 S.Ct. 1341, 137 L.Ed.2d 500 (1997). In order for defendant to establish a prima facie violation for disproportionate representation in a venire, he must show: (1) that the group alleged to be excluded is a distinctive group in the community; (2) that the representation of this group in venires from which juries are selected is not fair and reasonable in relation to the number of such persons in the community; and (3) that this underrepresentation is due to systematic exclusion of the group in the jury-selection process. Duren v. Missouri, 439 U.S. 357, 364, 99 S.Ct. 664, 668, 58 L.Ed.2d 579, 586-87 (1979); see also Blakeney, 352 N.C. at 297, 531 S.E.2d at 808; Bowman, 349 N.C. at 467-68, 509 S.E.2d at 434; McNeill, 326 N.C. at 717, 392 S.E.2d at 81; State v. McCoy, 320 N.C. 581, 583, 359 S.E.2d 764, 765 (1987). We conclude that defendant has failed to establish the second and third prongs of the Duren test. With regard to the second prong, defendant submitted statistics showing that the African-American population of Wake County was 20.8% in 1997 and that African-Americans made up 8.67% of the jury pool, for a difference of 12.13%. In Bowman, this Court held that a difference of 16.17% was insufficient as a matter of law to conclude that the representation of African-Americans was not fair and reasonable in relation to their representation in the community. Bowman, 349 N.C. at 468, 509 S.E.2d at 434. Furthermore, in State v. Price, this Court held that a 14% difference was insufficient to show that the representation was unfair and unreasonable. 301 N.C. 437, 447-48, 272 S.E.2d 103, 110-11 (1980). Therefore, we conclude that a difference of 12.13% is insufficient, in and of itself, to conclude that the representation of African-Americans in this venire was not fair and reasonable in relation to their population in the community. With regard to the third prong of the Duren test, we note that defendant has presented no evidence showing that the alleged deficiency of African-Americans on the jury was because of the systematic exclusion of this group in the jury-selection process. `[T]he fact that a particular jury or a series of juries does not statistically reflect the racial composition of the community does not in itself make out an invidious discrimination forbidden by the [Equal Protection] Clause.' State v. Avery, 299 N.C. 126, 130, 261 S.E.2d 803, 806 (1980) (quoting Washington v. Davis, 426 U.S. 229, 239, 96 S.Ct. 2040, 2047, 48 L.Ed.2d 597, 607 (1976)). Overall, the only evidence defendant offered in support of his contention that his race was disproportionately underrepresented in the composition of the jury panels was statistics. Therefore, based on the foregoing, this assignment of error is overruled. Defendant's next argument relates to the State's peremptory challenges of prospective jurors Marion Hairston and Henry Smith, who are both African-American. Defendant contends that the trial court violated defendant's constitutional rights by allowing the State to exercise peremptory challenges against these two African-American prospective jurors. Defendant argues that these peremptory challenges were based solely on race, in violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). We disagree. The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 26 of the North Carolina Constitution prohibit a prosecutor from peremptorily excusing a prospective juror solely on the basis of his or her race. Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, [106 S.Ct. 1712,] 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986); State v. Floyd, 343 N.C. 101, 106, 468 S.E.2d 46, 50, cert. denied, [519] U.S. [896, 519 U.S. 896, 117 S.Ct. 241,] 136 L.Ed.2d 170 (1996). A three-step process has been established for evaluating claims of racial discrimination in the prosecution's use of peremptory challenges. Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 359, [111 S.Ct. 1859, 1866,] 114 L.Ed.2d 395, 405 (1991). First, defendant must establish a prima facie case that the peremptory challenge was exercised on the basis of race. Id. Second, if such a showing is made, the burden shifts to the prosecutor to offer a race-neutral explanation to rebut defendant's prima facie case. Id. Third, the trial court must determine whether the defendant has proven purposeful discrimination. Id. State v. Lemons, 348 N.C. 335, 360-61, 501 S.E.2d 309, 324-25 (1998), sentence vacated on other grounds, 527 U.S. 1018, 119 S.Ct. 2363, 144 L.Ed.2d 768 (1999). In this case, although the trial court ruled that defendant had not made a prima facie showing that the peremptory challenges were exercised on the basis of race, the State offered race-neutral explanations anyway in response to defendant's Batson challenge. The trial court accepted the State's explanations as valid reasons for using the peremptory challenges. `Once a prosecutor has offered a race-neutral explanation for the peremptory challenges and the trial court has ruled on the ultimate question of intentional discrimination, the preliminary issue of whether the defendant had made a prima facie showing becomes moot.' Id. at 361, 501 S.E.2d at 325 (quoting Hernandez, 500 U.S. at 359, 111 S.Ct. at 1866, 114 L.Ed.2d at 405). Therefore, the only issue for us to determine is whether the trial court correctly concluded that the prosecutor had not intentionally discriminated. Id. Since the trial court is in the best position to assess the prosecutor's credibility, we will not overturn its determination absent clear error. Id. (citing Hernandez, 500 U.S. at 369, 111 S.Ct. at 1871, 114 L.Ed.2d at 412). With regard to prospective juror Hairston, the prosecutor told the trial court that she excused this juror because Hairston had counseled inmates on death row and others involved in similar crimes, because Hairston started crying when questioned about her counseling, and because Hairston stated concerns that it would be very difficult for her to impose the death penalty. With respect to prospective juror Smith, the prosecutor informed the trial court that the State would be relying heavily on scientific evidence. The prosecutor was concerned that Smith had only a sixth-grade education and that he had a problem understanding some basic words from the questions asked and from the jury questionnaire. Taken singly or in combination, the State's excusal of these jurors was based on race-neutral reasons that were clearly supported by the individual jurors' responses during voir dire. State v. Robinson, 336 N.C. 78, 99, 443 S.E.2d 306, 315 (1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1089, 115 S.Ct. 750, 130 L.Ed.2d 650 (1995). Thus, the trial court correctly determined that the peremptory challenges of these specific jurors was not based solely upon their race. Therefore, the assignments of error with regard to this issue are overruled. Next, defendant contends that the trial court violated his constitutional rights by denying his motions to allow jurors who were opposed to the death penalty to sit as jurors in the guilt-innocence phase of the trial. Defendant concedes that this issue has been decided against him, but he requests this Court to reconsider the issue. This Court has held that N.C.G.S. § 15A-2000(a)(2) provides that the same jury that determines the guilt of a defendant should recommend the appropriate sentence for the defendant in a capital case. See, e.g., State v. Bondurant, 309 N.C. 674, 682, 309 S.E.2d 170, 176 (1983). N.C.G.S. § 15A-2000(a)(2) does not provide for the exchange of jurors for the sentencing phase based upon their convictions concerning the death penalty. Id. Furthermore, this Court has held that death-qualifying a jury is constitutional under both the federal and state Constitutions. State v. Conner, 335 N.C. 618, 627-28, 440 S.E.2d 826, 831-32 (1994) (citing Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968)); see also State v. Taylor, 332 N.C. 372, 390, 420 S.E.2d 414, 424-25 (1992). Defendant has failed to show any compelling reason why we should reexamine our holdings at this time. Thus, these assignments of error are overruled.