Court Opinion

ID: 9772856
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 17:31:33.852839+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:48.868733
License: Public Domain

SEARS, Justice,
concurring.
I concur with the results reached by the majority; however, I disagree that guidance for future Batson problems must come from the United States Supreme Court or from the Court of Criminal Appeals.
There are eighty justices on the Courts of Appeals in Texas and only nine judges on the Court of Criminal Appeals. It is my belief that the trial courts and trial lawyers need and appreciate guidance, and it is my further belief that the viewpoints of eighty justices are valuable guidelines for the opinions rendered by our overworked judges on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
There is no doubt that the evil sought to be avoided by Batson was alive and well in this appeal. The state, by striking five of the six black prospective jurors, obtained a jury panel with only two black persons. Therefore, by violating the rules and the law, the state achieved its purpose. This is an unacceptable result.
When a Batson challenge is upheld, and the defendant requests that the trial court disallow the state’s discriminatory peremptory strikes and resume the jury selection process with the same panel, the trial court should grant the request. This is a simple, straightforward and just remedy for a recognized wrong.