Opinion ID: 545175
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Prosecution's Use of Peremptory Challenges

Text: 53 Relying on Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986), defendant White alleges that the prosecution used its peremptory challenges to strike potential black jurors from the venire on the basis of their race. In order to establish a prima facie case of such discrimination, a defendant must show that he is a member of a cognizable racial group, that the prosecution struck members of the defendant's group from the venire, and that these and any other relevant circumstances raise an inference that the prosecutor used [peremptory challenges] to exclude the veniremen from the petit jury on account of their race. Id. at 96, 106 S.Ct. at 1723. Once the defendant is able to establish a prima facie case, the burden shifts to the prosecution to come forward with a neutral explanation for challenging the jurors of the defendant's group. Id. at 96-97, 106 S.Ct. at 1723-24. 54 All of the defendants in this case are black. The venire was composed of 56 members, 9 of whom were black. Questioning of the members was done by the court. No other information from which a court could discern possible prosecution bias was submitted. Thus the defendants must establish a prima facie case solely by reference to the strikes actually made by the prosecution. The Assistant United States Attorney was given 15 peremptory strikes, the defendants 30 in total divided among them. The third, fifth, thirteenth, and fifteenth strikes exercised by the prosecution resulted in the removal of potential jurors who were black. The prosecution did not exercise its right to strike a potential juror with its ninth and tenth strikes. The pool remaining at the close of jury selection consisted of 15 persons, three of whom were black. The Assistant United States Attorney explained that all of the black jurors it had struck, except one, as well as a number of the white jurors, were struck because they were in a household where no adult was employed--either because the potential juror was (1) single and unemployed, or (2) unemployed and married to someone who was unemployed. 1 The prosecutor explained that he struck the final black juror because he had prosecuted her brother in federal court and because her brother-in-law was employed by the Flint Police Department. One of the defendants as well as several of the witnesses were police officers working in Flint. 55 Twelve of the fifteen members of the pool remaining after all strikes were exercised, including all of the three black members, were designated as jurors. The remaining three were designated alternates. Because one of the black jurors did not show up for trial, a white alternate took his place. 2 After the submission of briefs, the District Court overruled defense motions to discharge the jury and the trial proceeded. 56 Reviewing all the facts before us, we cannot say that the defendants established a prima facie case of discrimination by the prosecution. White admits that the juror whose brother the Assistant United States Attorney had prosecuted was struck for cause. The mere fact that the government used three of its remaining fourteen strikes, 21%, to remove black jurors does not raise an inference of discrimination on the facts before us. The pool of 56 jurors was composed of almost 15% black members. Had the government used one less strike against a black member of the pool, it would have only exercised just over 14% of its strikes against black members. Where a change in one strike would result in an outcome that on its face is not prejudicial then it is rare that a defendant can prevail on a claim of discrimination absent additional evidence of discriminatory motive. Further, it is noteworthy that the government had two unused peremptory strikes, yet failed to use them to strike any of the three remaining black jurors from the panel. Had the government been intent on obtaining a non-black jury it is unlikely that these strikes would have gone unused. This is particularly true where the final composition of the pool of 15 had a higher percentage of black members than did the initial pool of 56: 20% black for the pool of 15 versus 15% black for the initial pool of 56. See United States v. Sangineto-Miranda, 859 F.2d 1501, 1520-22 (6th Cir.1988) (setting forth similar factors as useful in determining whether discrimination occurred). Because we find that defendant White has not made a prima facie showing of discrimination, we need not decide whether the prosecution's proffered explanation for striking the remaining black jurors was credible and nondiscriminatory. 57