Cartwright v. State
| Decision Date | 22 June 2011 |
| Docket Number | No. 82A01–1005–CR–214.,82A01–1005–CR–214. |
| Citation | 950 N.E.2d 807 |
| Parties | Jerrme CARTWRIGHT, Appellant–Defendant,v.STATE of Indiana, Appellee–Plaintiff. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Matthew J. McGovern, Evansville, IN, Attorney for Appellant.Gregory F. Zoeller, Attorney General of Indiana, Gary R. Rom, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.
Jerrme Cartwright (“Cartwright”) was convicted after a jury trial of two counts of attempted battery with a deadly weapon,1 each as a Class C felony, two counts of attempted aggravated battery,2 each as a Class B felony, and one count of possession of a handgun by a serious violent felon, 3 a Class B felony, and was given an aggregate sentence of twenty-six years executed. He appeals, raising the following restated issues for our review:
I. Whether the trial court erred in denying Cartwright's objection to the State's use of a peremptory challenge to strike the only African–American from the jury venire; and
II. Whether sufficient evidence was presented to support Cartwright's convictions for attempted battery with a deadly weapon.
We reverse and remand for a new trial.
At around 11:00 p.m. on December 27, 2008, Tiffany Boyd (“Tiffany”),4 her husband, Jamar Boyd (“Jamar”), Michael Lockridge (“Michael”), Marcus Lockridge (“Marcus”), and a man known as Lojo went to the American Legion in Evansville, Indiana. Shaudarekkia Beattie (“Shaudarekkia”) and her sister, Linda Beattie (“Linda”), arrived at the American Legion soon after. Once inside the bar at the American Legion, Jamar and Michael spoke with Cartwright, and there did not seem to be any animosity between the men. Later, however, a fight broke out on the dance floor involving Cartwright, Michael, and Marcus. After the fight began, Tiffany was struck in the back with a chair and exited through a back door. She did not know where Jamar was, so she walked around the building and found him bleeding from a wound on the side of his head. Tiffany and Jamar got into their vehicle and drove to Linda's house, which was just around the corner from the American Legion. Shaudarekkia and Linda were only present at the American Legion for ten minutes when the fight began. They also left and drove to Linda's house.
When Tiffany and Jamar arrived at Linda's house, they parked in front, and Tiffany tried to stop Jamar's head from bleeding while he sat in the passenger seat. Shaudarekkia and Linda also arrived at Linda's house, and Shaudarekkia stayed in the vehicle while Linda went inside the house. Tiffany was outside of her vehicle, and a crowd had gathered to see Jamar's head. She observed Cartwright, who was wearing a button-down shirt over a white tank top, and another man walking down the street toward her. At first, Cartwright had his hand behind his back, but then Tiffany noticed that he had a handgun in his hand. She shouted, “he got a gun [sic],” and Cartwright pointed the gun toward the crowd where Tiffany was standing and began shooting. Tr. at 312. When he fired into the crowd, he was between five and ten yards from the crowd. Shaudarekkia, who was still in her vehicle, attempted to hit Cartwright with her vehicle. Tiffany observed Cartwright point and shoot at Shaudarekkia. Shaudarekkia saw Cartwright with the gun and thought her vehicle may have been struck with a bullet. She also observed Cartwright fire some shots into the air.
The police had responded to the American Legion for the earlier fight and drove around the area to make sure the fight had not spilled out to the surrounding neighborhood. When the police drove down the street that ran in front of Linda's house, they saw Cartwright firing a gun into the crowd and ordered him to drop the gun. Cartwright turned, pointed the gun at the two officers, and fired shots at them. He then fled the scene and ran in the direction of a local community center. Cartwright was later apprehended in the area, but was no longer wearing his button-down shirt. A shirt, which was later determined to have a DNA profile consistent with that of Cartwright, and a nine millimeter handgun, which was later determined to have fired the earlier shots, were found near the community center.
The State charged Cartwright with four counts of attempted murder, each as a Class A felony, two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, each as a Class B felony, two counts of robbery, each as a Class B felony, one count of burglary as a Class A felony, two counts of criminal confinement, each as a Class B felony, one count of battery as a Class C felony, one count of pointing a firearm as a Class D felony, and one count of auto theft as a Class D felony. On March 10, 2010, a three-day jury trial began on the four counts of attempted murder and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon.5 At the conclusion of the trial, Cartwright was found guilty of two counts of attempted battery with a deadly weapon, each as a Class C felony, which were lesser included offenses of attempted murder. He was also found guilty of two counts of attempted aggravated battery, each as a Class B felony, which were also lesser included offenses off attempted murder. He was additionally convicted of Class B felony unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. The trial court sentenced Cartwright to an aggregate twenty-six year sentence. 6 Cartwright now appeals.
Cartwright, an African–American, contends that the State exercised its peremptory challenge to remove the only African–American from the jury venire in violation of his rights to equal protection guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. “The use of a peremptory challenge to strike a potential juror solely on the basis of race violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.” Killebrew v. State, 925 N.E.2d 399, 401 (Ind.Ct.App.2010) (citing Jeter v. State, 888 N.E.2d 1257, 1262 (Ind.2008), cert. denied ––– U.S. ––––, 129 S.Ct. 645, 172 L.Ed.2d 626), trans. denied. On appeal, a trial court's decision concerning whether a peremptory challenge is discriminatory is given great deference and will be set aside only if found to be clearly erroneous. Id. When a party raises a Batson challenge, the trial court must undertake a three-step test. Jeter, 888 N.E.2d at 1263. First, it must determine whether the party making the Batson objection has made a prima facie showing that a peremptory challenge was exercised on the basis of race. Id. Second, after the contesting party makes a prima facie showing of discrimination, the burden shifts to the party exercising its peremptory challenge to present a race-neutral explanation for striking the juror. Id. Third, if a race-neutral explanation is proffered, the trial court must then determine if the challenger has carried its burden of proving purposeful discrimination. Id.
Cartwright first argues that the trial court erred when it ruled that there was no prima facie showing of discrimination based on race. The State agrees. Here, during voir dire, the State used a peremptory challenge to strike the only African–American person from the jury panel. The removal of some African–American jurors by the use of peremptory challenges does not, by itself, raise an inference of racial discrimination. Highler v. State, 854 N.E.2d 823, 827 (Ind.2006). However, the removal of the only African–American juror that could have served raises the inference that the juror was excluded on the basis of race. McCormick v. State, 803 N.E.2d 1108, 1111 (Ind.2004). Therefore, when the State used a peremptory challenge to remove the only African–American person on the jury panel, it is clear that Cartwright made a prima facie showing of discrimination. Nonetheless, where, as here, a prosecutor has offered a race-neutral explanation for the peremptory challenge and the trial court has ruled on the ultimate question of intentional discrimination, the preliminary issue of whether the defendant had made a prima facie showing of purposeful discrimination becomes moot. Id.
Cartwright further contends that the State's justifications for its peremptory strike of the only African–American from the jury panel were baseless and pretextual because the State failed to inquire further into such reasons and develop a sufficient record to support the reasons as race-neutral.
A neutral explanation means an explanation based on something other than the race of the juror. Id. In the present case, the State gave the following reasons for striking the juror at issue: (1) health issues; (2) trouble listening; (3) not wanting to serve on jury; and (4) fact that a family member had a conviction for conversion. Tr. at 140. Each of these reasons was a permissible race-neutral explanation for the exercise of a peremptory challenge. “ ‘The second step of this process does not demand an explanation that is persuasive, or even plausible.’ ” Jeter, 888 N.E.2d at 1264 (quoting Purkett v. Elem, 514 U.S. 765, 767–68, 115 S.Ct. 1769, 131 L.Ed.2d 834 (1995) (per curiam)). At this second step of the inquiry, the issue is simply the facial validity of the prosecutor's explanation. Id. “ ‘Unless a discriminatory intent is inherent in the prosecutor's explanation, the reason offered will be deemed race neutral.’ ” Id. (quoting Purkett, 514 U.S. at 768, 115 S.Ct. 1769).
We thus turn to the third step of Batson. The issue here is whether Cartwright established that those facially neutral reasons were merely pretextual and a mask for purposeful discrimination. “Although the ultimate burden of persuasion regarding purposeful discrimination rests with the party opposing the strike, [t]his final step involves evaluating the persuasiveness of the justification proffered by the [proponent of the strike]....” Id. (internal quotations...
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Cartwright v. State
...his convictions for attempted battery with a deadly weapon. In a divided opinion, the Court of Appeals reversed. Cartwright v. State, 950 N.E.2d 807 (Ind.Ct.App.2011). The majority held that the State's proffered explanations for its peremptory strike were pretextual resulting in purposeful......
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