Opinion ID: 509516
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Proof of Purposeful Discrimination

Text: 118 The Court reiterated that a defendant who alleges an equal protection violation has the burden of proving 'the existence of purposeful discrimination', id. at 1766 (quoting Whitus v. Georgia, 385 U.S. 545, 550, 87 S.Ct. 643, 646, 17 L.Ed.2d 599 (1967)) (footnote omitted), and that the purposeful discrimination 'had a discriminatory effect' on him, 107 S.Ct. at 1766 (quoting Wayte v. United States, 470 U.S. 598, 608, 105 S.Ct. 1524, 1531, 84 L.Ed.2d 547 (1985)). Thus, the Court held, to prevail under the Equal Protection Clause, McCleskey must prove that the decisionmakers in his case acted with discriminatory purpose. 107 S.Ct. at 1766 (emphasis in original). McCleskey had offered no evidence that would support an inference that racial consideration played a part in his sentence, but instead relied on statistical studies, arguing the studies compelled an inference that his sentence rests on purposeful discrimination. Id. at 1767. McCleskey had argued that the statistics were sufficient proof of discrimination, without regard to the facts of a particular case.... Id. 119 The Court noted that it had accepted statistics as proof of intent in certain limited contexts, e.g., equal protection violation in selection of the jury venire in a particular district and in the form of multiple regression analysis to prove statutory violations under Title VII, id. at 1767, but the application of an inference drawn from the general statistics to a specific decision in a trial and sentencing simply is not comparable to the application of an inference drawn from general statistics to a specific venire-selection or Title VII case. Id. 1767-68. The important differences between the cases in which the Court has accepted statistics as proof of discriminatory intent is that, in the venire-selection and Title VII contexts, (1) the statistics relate to fewer entities, and fewer variables are relevant to the challenged decisions, and (2) the decisionmaker has an opportunity to explain the statistical disparity. Id. at 1768 (footnotes omitted). Because implementing criminal laws against murder necessarily involves discretionary judgment, the Court stated that it would demand exceptionally clear proof before we would infer that the discretion has been abused. Id. at 1769. The Court held: 120 The unique nature of the decisions at issue in this case also counsel against adopting such an inference from the disparities indicated by the Baldus study. Accordingly, we hold that the Baldus study is clearly insufficient to support an inference that any of the decisionmakers in McCleskey's case acted with discriminatory purpose. 121 Id. 122 In the matter before us, Harris proffered a statistical study performed by James Cole which purports to show a disparity in the imposition of the death sentence in California based on the race of the murder victim. Both murder victims in this case were white. Harris is also white. The Cole study is actually two statistical studies that examine 238 cases which resulted in the penalty of death involving intentional homicides and robbery homicides in California from 1978 to 1982. The raw numbers analyzed by Cole indicated that murders involving white victims accounted for 76.5% of all death sentences for intentional homicides in California. By contrast, only 38.7% of the intentional homicides committed at that time involved white victims. Cole concluded that someone whose victim was white had a five times greater possibility of receiving the death penalty than someone whose victim was nonwhite. 123 In the second study involving robbery homicides, Cole indicated that crimes involving white victims accounted for 73% of all death sentences in California. By contrast, only 46.5% of the robbery homicides committed involved white victims. Cole concluded that someone committing robbery murder on a white victim had approximately three times the possibility of ultimately receiving the death sentence as someone committing the crime on a nonwhite victim. 124 As to the gender discrimination claim, Harris submitted declarations showing that in California between 1978 and 1982, 2,179 persons were convicted of murder, of which only approximately 94, or 4.3%, were female. Of the 144 persons sentenced to death during that period, none were female. Harris' expert witness concluded the total exclusion of women from the pool of those defendants receiving the death sentence is indicative of gender influencing the sentencing process. 125 As to the age discrimination claim, Harris submitted affidavits by Dr. Cole showing that in California between 1981 and 1982, the number of persons in the 25 to 29 and 30 to 34 year age groups were disproportionately higher than those defendants receiving the death sentence. Dr. Cole relied on the following comparisons: 126 Age Group Death Sentence Recipients in Age Persons Arrested for Murder in Age 127 Group Group 2024 20.2% 33.4% 2529 35.1 25.4 3034 31.1 16.4 3539 6.8 9.1 40 k 6.8 15.7 Total 100.0% 100.0% 128 Harris' statistical proffer of evidence, even assuming the truth of his allegations, does not entitle him to an evidentiary hearing or discovery on his equal protection claim. Harris has not demonstrated that the decisionmakers in his case acted with discriminatory purpose on the basis of the race of his two victims, his gender or age. Harris' statistical evidence does not provide exceptionally clear proof that the jury in his case abused its discretion in recommending the sentence of death. In McCleskey, the defendant's study revealed that someone charged with killing a white victim was 4.3 times as likely to receive a death sentence as a defendant charged with killing a black victim. Harris' study only reveals a marginally higher ratio, i.e., five times as likely. 129 As to Harris' gender discrimination claim, Harris' statistics show that while 94 women, or 4.3%, were convicted of murder during this time period, none of the 144 persons sentenced to death during this period were female. These statistics fail to demonstrate if any of the 94 women (1) committed crimes which permitted their execution, or (2) were eligible for the death sentence. 6 Other than the mere fact that there are no women on death row, there is nothing to support the claim that women are not there because of discrimination. Richmond v. Ricketts, 640 F.Supp. 767, 802 (D.Az.1986). These statistical flaws are fatal to Harris' claim. Not only did his statistics not entitle him to discovery or an evidentiary hearing on this claim, but they do not present the exceptionally clear proof required to demonstrate purposeful discrimination. 130 Harris' age discrimination claim likewise suffers from an inadequate showing. The statistical differences are legally insufficient to support his age discrimination claim. Accordingly, we hold that the Cole study is clearly insufficient to support an inference that any of the decisionmakers in Harris' case acted with discriminatory purpose. Harris was not entitled to an evidentiary hearing or discovery.