Johnson v. State, 96-CT-01136-SCT.
Decision Date | 13 January 2000 |
Docket Number | No. 96-CT-01136-SCT.,96-CT-01136-SCT. |
Citation | 754 So.2d 1178 |
Parties | Reginald Torlentus JOHNSON v. STATE of Mississippi. |
Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Thomas M. Fortner, Jackson, Andre' De Gruy, Robert M. Ryan, Jackson, Attorneys for Appellant.
Office of the Attorney General by Glenn Watts, Attorney for Appellee.
EN BANC.
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI
BANKS, Justice, for the Court:
¶ 1. The question presented in this appeal is whether a trial court, when considering peremptory challenges under Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986), may decline to make a factual determination, on the record, of the merits of the reasons provided by a party for those challenges. The Court of Appeals found that the trial court's failure to hold such a hearing was not error. We granted certiorari and, pursuant to Hatten v. State, 628 So.2d 294 (Miss.1993), reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand this case to the Hinds County Circuit Court.
I.
¶ 2. The murder conviction which is the subject of this appeal arose out of an altercation over an allegedly stolen bicycle. Reginald Torlentus Johnson, defendant/appellant, shot and killed William Charleston.1 ¶ 3. At trial, after the State had exercised all six of its peremptory challenges to remove blacks from consideration for jury service, the defense raised the issue that the State was exercising its strikes in a discriminatory fashion to systematically exclude these black venire members solely on the basis of race. The State countered that the facts did not establish a prima facie case of discriminatory intent in its exercise of the permitted peremptory challenges. Rather than decide that threshold issue, the trial court simply directed the State to offer race-neutral reasons for the six strikes. The State proceeded to do so. In summary, those reasons offered were as follows:
¶ 4. The defense was then given the opportunity to be heard on the challenges. Defense counsel provided rebuttal on two of the State's peremptory strikes, Juror One, Panel One and Juror Ten, Panel One. Defense counsel's response was to the effect that the reasoning offered by the State was so unsubstantiated that it was offered to hide the discriminatory purpose for the strikes. The trial court announced, without elaboration, that all six peremptory challenges would be permitted to stand. It is that ruling that Johnson raised as error on direct appeal.2
¶ 5. The Court of Appeals found the following: (1) the trial court skipped the first step in the Batson analysis when it failed to find that the State's actions amounted to a prima facie case of discrimination before requiring it to provide race neutral reasons for its strikes; (2) this was irrelevant because it was clear from the record that such a prima facie case had been made; (3) the trial court's finding that the peremptory challenges were race neutral would be upheld; and (4) the trial court's finding that the peremptory challenges were sufficiently race neutral to be upheld as non-discriminatory under Batson, would be upheld. Finally, the Court of Appeals found that the trial court's failure to make on the record findings concerning its acceptance of the peremptory strikes was not error despite this Court's decision in Hatten v. State:
II.
¶ 6. This Court stated the following in Hatten v. State, 628 So.2d 294, 298 (Miss. 1993):
cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1074, 110 S.Ct. 1796, 108 L.Ed.2d 797 (1990); Chisolm v. State, 529 So.2d 630, 633 (Miss.1988); Johnson v. State, 529 So.2d 577, 583-84 (Miss.1988). Obviously, where a trial court offers clear factual findings relative to its decision to accept the State's reason[s] for peremptory strikes, the guesswork surrounding the trial court's ruling is eliminated upon appeal of a Batson issue to this Court.
This rule was handed down prospectively. In Bounds v. State, 688 So.2d...
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Estate of Jones v. Phillips, No. 2006-CA-01898-SCT.
...purposeful discrimination. Batson, 476 U.S. at 97-98, 106 S.Ct. 1712; Brawner v. State, 872 So.2d 1, 9-10 (Miss.2004); Johnson v. State, 754 So.2d 1178, 1180 (Miss.2000); Hatten v. State, 628 So.2d 294, 298 (Miss. 1993). See also Burnett v. Fulton, 854 So.2d 1010, 1013-14 (Miss.2003). The r......
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Pruitt v. State, No. 2007-KA-00499-SCT (Miss. 4/10/2008), 2007-KA-00499-SCT.
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