Opinion ID: 666019
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Cooper Case

Text: 19 Cooper objected to the government's use of peremptory challenges excluding potential jurors Smith and Johnson, both black. The government made the strikes against Smith and Johnson at stage two of the jury selection process. At the time the strikes were made, thirty-seven venirepersons had been interviewed as potential petit jurors. Of those thirty-seven, eight were black. Ten of those interviewed had already been selected for the petit jury. Of those ten jurors, four were black. 20 The district judge initially denied Cooper's request for a Batson hearing in chambers and out of the presence and hearing of the jury. In his written memorandum opinion filed later in conjunction with his ruling on post-trial motions, the district judge justified his ruling in part on the fact that the government had not objected to the four black jurors who had been selected prior to the exercise of the first of the two peremptory challenges, and in part on the fact that the government had accepted several other black venirepersons who were stricken by Cooper's peremptory challenges. The district judge also considered the statistical facts that approximately 25% of the total venire were black, that the government used two peremptory challenges to strike 25% of the black persons making up the venire, and that when the strikes were made 40% of the jurors already selected were black. The facts showed that the government had peremptory challenges available but did not strike black venirepersons early in the jury selection process. In this case the Defendant was black, the victim was black, and most of the government witnesses were black. The district judge wrote that he had considered all the relevant circumstances and concluded that there was no inference of discriminatory purpose that could have even approached a prima facie case for purposeful discrimination. This Court finds nothing in the record which suggests that the district court erred in making that finding. 21 The objecting party carries the burden of establishing a prima facie case under Batson. Cooper gave no details as to why the government's challenges were improper. While any of the above facts standing alone might not defeat the finding that a prima facie case existed, the facts in this record do nothing to raise an inference of racial discrimination. To establish a prima facie case for purposeful discrimination under Batson, Cooper must do more than merely point to the fact that the government excluded two black venirepersons by using peremptory challenges. Cooper must point to facts and circumstances raising an inference that the potential jurors were excluded because of race. Otherwise, every peremptory challenge used to exclude any cognizable minority from a petit jury would require a Batson-type hearing. 22 This Court affirms the district court's finding that Cooper failed to establish a prima facie case for purposeful discrimination under the Batson analysis.