Jones v. State

• Decision Date: 17 January 2007
• Docket Number: No. 49A02-0512-CR-1196.,49A02-0512-CR-1196.
• Citation: 859 N.E.2d 1219
• Parties: Cletus JONES, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff.
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

859 N.E.2d 1219

Cletus JONES, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff.

No. 49A02-0512-CR-1196.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

January 17, 2007.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Katherine A. Cornelius, Indianapolis, IN, Attorney for Appellant.

Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Ellen H. Meilaender, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

OPINION

SHARPNACK, Judge.

Cletus Jones appeals his conviction for robbery, a class C felony.¹ Jones raises two issues, which we restate as:

I. Whether the trial court properly denied Jones's challenge based on Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 1719, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986); and

II. Whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain Jones's conviction for robbery.

We affirm.

The relevant facts follow. On June 1, 2004, Jones entered the National City Bank where Diamond Garner and Tina Wright worked. Garner and Wright both saw Jones and heard his voice. On June 4, 2004, Jones returned to the National City Bank. Jones entered the bank, approached Garner's teller window, placed a note in her window demanding money, and loudly stated, "I just need to get this done as quickly as possible." Transcript at 29-30. Jones wore a disguise, but Garner and Wright recognized him as the same person who had been in the bank on June 1st. Garner complied with Jones's demand and gave him the money. Jones was later positively identified as the person who robbed the bank on June 4th.

The State charged Jones with robbery as a class C felony. During voir dire at Jones's jury trial, the prosecutor used his peremptory challenges to exclude the only two African-American jurors on the panel. Jones made a Batson motion stating that:

[t]here were 30 jurors; potential jurors, that were seated, two of which were minorities, or African Americans. We struck neither. The State struck both Mr. Johnson and Ms. Lloyd. And most notably Ms. Lloyd was on the second set of jurors, Judge, and I don't believe she said a single word. I did not speak with her directly. I don't think the State asked her a single question. As I look back at the record, I don't think she even opened her mouth. That certainly rises to the level of a pattern. And I think that the jury that's been selected is not a fair — same thing — not a fair pool of Mr. Jones's peers.

Id. at 16-17. In response to Jones's challenge, the State responded:

[State]: I did speak with Ms. Lloyd. And one of the questions, the big crux of my voir dire is to testimony only. And I asked her very specifically on that question, could you convict somebody on testimony only? And her response was no. That's a fair and legitimate reason — and since this case hinges on testimony of the witnesses at this point, that's the reason I struck her.

[Court]: And what about Mr. Johnson then?

[State]: Mr. Johnson. Speaking of him, he had a brother-in-law that had been killed. His attitude was — when I asked him about the same testimony question, whether he could convict on testimony only and — using the example of being robbed and him being the only witness, if the jury found him not guilty, his attitude was, well, that's just the way it goes.

* * * * *

[State]: His attitude was more of the fact that he could deal with that and then — and his punishment will come later in life through a higher power. And while that maybe [sic] an attitude that's all right [sic] for normal society, I think a juror needs to have a little more than just an indifference as to one way or the other. I think the jury needs to have — if they're going to sit as the trier of fact, needs to have a something more of (indiscernible) attitude at that point than just that it happens. So that's the reason Mr. Johnson was struck.

Id. at 17-18. In overruling Jones's Batson challenge, the trial court stated:

Well, there were only two African American jurors on our panel. The State's given a race neutral reason for at least one of them. And so I think that strikes down a pattern of striking African Americans just because they're African Americans, so your challenge is noted but overruled.

Id. at 19. A jury found Jones guilty of robbery.

I.

The first issue is whether the trial court properly denied Jones's Batson challenge. "The exercise of racially discriminatory peremptory challenges is constitutionally impermissible." McCormick v. State, 803 N.E.2d 1108, 1110 (Ind.2004). "Upon appellate review, 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." Forrest v. State, 757 N.E.2d 1003, 1004 (Ind.2001). Evaluation of a Batson claim requires three steps. Id.

First, the party contesting the challenge must make out a prima facie case of racial discrimination by demonstrating that: (1) the juror is a member of a cognizable racial group; (2) [the prosecutor] has exercised peremptory challenges to remove that group's members from the jury; and (3) the facts and circumstances of this case raise an inference that the exclusion was based on race. Second, upon such a showing, the burden of production shifts to the proponent of the peremptory challenge to provide a race-neutral explanation. If the explanation, on its face, is based on something other than race, the explanation will be deemed race-neutral. Third, the trial court must determine whether the party contesting the peremptory challenge has proved purposeful racial discrimination.

Id. (internal citations omitted).

In Purkett v. Elem, 514 U.S. 765, 115 S.Ct. 1769 (1995)[, reh'g denied], the United States Supreme Court refined the test for determining whether a juror has been struck for a reason violative of Batson. The Court declared that the race-neutral explanation must be more than a mere denial of improper motive, but it need not be persuasive, or even plausible. The issue is the facial validity of the [State's] explanation. Unless a discriminatory intent is inherent in the [State's] explanation, the reason offered will be deemed race neutral.

McCormick, 803 N.E.2d at 1111. (internal citations omitted).

Here, Jones argues that the trial court used the wrong standard to evaluate his Batson challenge. To support his argument, Jones states: "[t]he trial judge in her ruling clearly believed the State had to have struck two African Americans improperly to establish a `pattern' before Batson would apply." Appellant's Brief at 10. Jones points to the trial court's ruling on his Batson challenge, which states: "Well, there were only two African American jurors on our panel. The State's given a race neutral reason for at least one of them. And so I think that strikes down a pattern of striking African Americans just because they're African Americans, so your challenge is noted but overruled." Transcript at 19.

If, as Jones argues, the trial judge did "[believe] the State had to have struck two African Americans improperly to establish a `pattern' before Batson would apply," such a rationale would be faulty. Appellant's Brief at 10. Under Batson, "once the opponent of a peremptory challenge has made out a prima facie case of racial discrimination (step one), the burden of production shifts to the proponent of the strike to come forward with a race-neutral explanation (step two)." Purkett, 514 U.S. at 767, 115 S.Ct. 1769. "If a race-neutral explanation is tendered, the trial court must then decide (step three) whether the opponent of the strike has proved purposeful racial discrimination." Id. (citing Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 358-59, 111 S.Ct. 1859, 114 L.Ed.2d 395 (1991) (plurality)).

Here, Jones made a prima facie case under Batson. Our Supreme Court has held that where the only African American venire persons are removed from the panel, a prima facie case is established, "and, at a minimum, it is evidence of discrimination that must weigh in the balance." Ashabraner v. Bowers, 753 N.E.2d 662, 667 (Ind.2001).

After Jones established a prima facie case of racial discrimination, the State offered justifications for its peremptory strikes of jurors Lloyd and Johnson. Lloyd was struck because she stated that she could not convict someone based on testimony alone. Johnson was struck because of what the State felt was an indifferent attitude "regarding temporal justice" on Johnson's part. Appellee's Brief at 7.

In its ruling, the trial court stated: "Well, there were only two African American jurors on our panel. The State [has] given a race neutral reason for at least one of them." Transcript at 19. (emphasis added) It is unclear whether the trial court meant that a race-neutral reason was given for one of the challenges but not the other. Moreover, it is unclear to which reason the trial court was referring; so, the court could be referring to either or both given reasons. This raises a question as to whether a trial court must explicitly rule on each peremptory challenge.

Logic requires that where a prima facie case of racial discrimination has been made as to the peremptory challenges to two or more jurors, a nonracial reason for challenge must be provided as to each juror. The improper peremptory challenge to any one juror would require a new trial. See McCormick, 803 N.E.2d at 1113.² Therefore, a nonracial reason for peremptory challenge must be given for each.

Here, the trial court's statement that the State's reason for excluding at least one of the two jurors was race-neutral is ambiguous. However, ambiguity notwithstanding and granting due deference to the trial court, we cannot say that the trial court's ruling here was clearly erroneous. The State gave a separate reason for each of its peremptory challenges. Moreover, each of those reasons appears neutral on its face. "A neutral explanation means an explanation based on something other than the race of the juror." McCormick, 803 N.E.2d at 1111. If the explanation, on its face, is based on something other...