Betancourt v. State, 94-1095
Decision Date | 18 January 1995 |
Docket Number | No. 94-1095,94-1095 |
Citation | 650 So.2d 1021 |
Parties | 20 Fla. L. Weekly D212 . The STATE of Florida, Appellee. District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District |
Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, and Marti Rothenberg, Asst. Public Defender, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Consuelo Maingot, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and GODERICH and GREEN, JJ.
Regretfully, we must reverse multiple convictions for serious offenses which followed a lengthy and otherwise spotless trial because, based on a misguided application of Batson- Neil 1 principles, the trial judge erroneously refused to permit the exercise of a defense peremptory challenge.
The defendant is a Hispanic male who was charged with participating in the armed invasion of a well-known restaurant in Miami in which several customers and employees were robbed and a patron was shot and killed. One of his claims in defense was that he was coerced into the crime by his accomplices. In voir dire, a Hispanic prospective juror named Miguel Garcia stated that he had been the foreman of a previous criminal jury which had not reached a verdict in the case. After the defendant attempted to exercise a peremptory challenge against him, and in response to a demand by the prosecutor and court that he state a "race-neutral reason" for the strike, 2 defense counsel relied upon the fact that Garcia
indicated to me that he had been a foreman on a jury before.
He indicated to me that he was a person who was a leader and a person who I would not want on my jury.
The trial judge disallowed the challenge and Garcia served on the jury which convicted Betancourt of, among other things, first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, armed burglary and five counts of armed robbery.
Our holding that overruling the attempted strike of Garcia was reversible error is essentially based upon the fact that there is no basis whatever for concluding that the challenge involved the evil proscribed by the Batson- Neil 3 rule; that is, that it was based on a "constitutionally impermissible prejudice," State v. Slappy, 522 So.2d 18, 20 (Fla.1988), cert. denied, 487 U.S. 1219, 108 S.Ct. 2873, 101 L.Ed.2d 909 (1988), or racially motivated in any way. In this case, the Hispanic defendant challenged a Hispanic prospective juror. On the face of it--and there is nothing in the record to suggest otherwise--there would seem no basis for even implying a racial reason for Betancourt's not wanting Garcia to serve on his jury. See Portu v. State, 651 So.2d 791 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995). In this respect, the case is decisively unlike the overwhelming majority of cases--if not every case--in which a peremptory challenge has been disallowed under Batson and Neil. Typically--if not invariably--they involve situations in which the prospective juror belongs to a group whose general characteristics would seem to be adverse to the position of the challenger. E.g., J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel. T.B., --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 1419, 128 L.Ed.2d 89 (1994) ( ); Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986) ( ); Slappy, 522 So.2d at 18 (same); State v. Neil, 457 So.2d 481 (Fla.1984) (same); Abshire v. State, 642 So.2d 542 (Fla.1994) ( ); State v. Alen, 616 So.2d 452 (Fla.1993) ( ); Joseph v. State, 636 So.2d 777 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994) ( ). When, as here, there is no reason in common sense, legal intuition or the record to overcome "the presumption that peremptories will be exercised in a non-discriminatory manner," Neil, 457 So.2d at 486; State v. Johans, 613 So.2d 1319 (Fla.1993), or to justify a finding of "discriminatory intent," which is the critical, indeed the only, issue in question, see Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 359, 111 S.Ct. 1859, 1866, 114 L.Ed.2d 395, 406 (1991), no strike may be countermanded. See Johans, 613 So.2d at 1321 ( )4; Portu, 651 So.2d at 791.
Furthermore, even assuming arguendo, and contrary to the thrust of our previous discussion, that a sufficient "race-neutral reason" was required, the one stated below was a perfectly satisfactory one. Defense counsel's distaste for Garcia's prior service as a jury foreman and thus as a potential "leader" reflects a commonly accepted part of the lore of jury selection. Thus, it is said in Wagner's Art of Advocacy:
All trial lawyers agree that they don't want any one juror to have a disproportionate say in the verdict or as to the amount of the award, and thus, they seek to exclude anyone who they feel will dominate the panel.
The "kingpin" may be someone with a very strong personality who tries to impose his will on others. In jurisdictions where the jurors select a foreman, you may wish to ascertain whether any juror has been a foreman during prior jury service, as this may indicate a kingpin personality.
Ward Wagner, Jr., Art of Advocacy-Jury Selection Sec. 1.04 (1992). Because Garcia's status as a foreman and "leader" thus constitutes a legitimate, obviously "race-neutral" reason for the challenge, 5 the trial court abused its discretion in seating him for this reason as well. See Desroches v. State, 645 So.2d 1084 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994) ( ); Alexander v. State, 643 So.2d 1151 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994) ( ); Pollock v. State, 634 So.2d 327 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994) ( ); Barnes v. State, 620 So.2d 243 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993) ( ); Williams v. State, 619 So.2d 487 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993) ( ); Wimberly v. State, 599 So.2d 715 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992) ( ); see also McClain v. State, 596 So.2d 800 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992) (, )dismissed, 614 So.2d 498 (Fla.1993); Washington v. State, --- So.2d ---- [1994 WL 684008] (Fla.1994) ( ); Reaves v. State, 639 So.2d 1 (Fla.1994) (, )cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 488, 130 L.Ed.2d 400 (1994); Atwater v. State, 626 So.2d 1325 (Fla.1993) (, )cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 1578, 128 L.Ed.2d 221 (1994); Files v. State, 613 So.2d 1301 (Fla.1992) ( ); Green v. State, 583 So.2d 647 (Fla.1991) (, )cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1102, 112 S.Ct. 1191, 117 L.Ed.2d 432 (1992); Turner v. State, 645 So.2d 444 (Fla.1994) ( ); Aikens v. State, 609 So.2d 764 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992) ( ); Miller v. State, 605 So.2d 492 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992) (, )review denied, 613 So.2d 7 (Fla.1993); Rose v. State, 492 So.2d 1353 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986) (...
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