People v. Johnson

• Court: California Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: Chin
• Citation: People v. Johnson, 136 P.3d 804, 45 Cal.Rptr.3d 1, 38 Cal.4th 1096 (Cal. 2006)
• Decision Date: 26 June 2006
• Docket Number: No. S127602,S127602
• Parties: The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Jay Shawn JOHNSON, Defendant and Appellant.

45 Cal.Rptr.3d 1

38 Cal.4th 1096

136 P.3d 804

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Jay Shawn JOHNSON, Defendant and Appellant.

No. S127602

Supreme Court of California.

June 26, 2006.

Stephen B. Bedrick, under appointment by the Supreme Court, Oakland, for Defendant and Appellant.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Assistant Attorney General, Laurence K. Sullivan and Seth K. Schalit, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

CHIN, J.

[136 P.3d 1098]

Both the United States and the California Constitutions prohibit the exercise of peremptory challenges solely because of group bias. (Batson v. Kentucky (1986) 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (Batson); People v. Wheeler (1978) 22 Cal.3d 258, 148 Cal.Rptr. 890, 583 P.2d 748.) In this case, defendant objected at trial that the prosecutor had challenged three African-American prospective jurors on the basis of their race. The trial court found that defendant had not established a prima facie case of group bias and overruled the objection. Following his conviction of second degree murder and assault resulting in the death of a child under the age of eight, defendant argued on appeal that the court erred in not finding a prima facie case of group bias. The Court of Appeal agreed and reversed the judgment. We granted review.

On review, we held that, in order to establish a prima facie case of group bias, "the objector must show that it is more likely than not the other party's peremptory challenges, if unexplained, were based on impermissible group bias." (People v. Johnson (2003) 30 Cal.4th 1302, 1306, 1 Cal.Rptr.3d 1, 71 P.3d 270.) Applying this standard, "we uph[e]ld the trial court's finding that defendant failed to establish a prima facie case that the prosecutor used his peremptory challenges improperly." (Ibid.) We also held that "Batson does not require state reviewing courts to engage in comparative juror analysis for the first time on appeal." (Ibid.) We remanded the matter to the Court of Appeal for further proceedings. This time, the Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment, and we denied review.

The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari limited to the question regarding the applicable test to establish a prima facie case, and reversed. (Johnson v. California (2005) 545 U.S. 162, 125 S.Ct. 2410, 162 L.Ed.2d 129.) It held that "California's `more likely than not' standard is an inappropriate yardstick by which to measure the sufficiency of a prima facie case." (Id. at p. ___, 125 S.Ct. at p. 2416.) Instead, the court held, "a defendant satisfies the requirements of Batson's first step by producing

[136 P.3d 1099]

evidence sufficient to permit the trial judge to draw an inference that discrimination has occurred." (Id. at p. ___, 125 S.Ct. at p. 2417.) Applying this standard, the court concluded that the inferences in this case "that discrimination may have occurred were sufficient to establish a prima facie case under Batson." (Id. at p. ___, 125 S.Ct. at p. 2419.) It remanded the matter to this court "for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion." (Ibid.)

We must now decide what those further proceedings should be. To decide this question, some background discussion is necessary. In its opinion in this case, the high court explained the three-step procedure that applies when a defendant objects at trial that the prosecution exercised its peremptory challenges discriminatorily. "First, the defendant must make out a prima facie case `by showing that the totality of the relevant facts gives rise to an inference of discriminatory purpose.' [Citation.] Second, once the defendant has made out a prima facie case, the `burden shifts to the State to explain adequately the racial exclusion' by offering permissible race-neutral justifications for the strikes. [Citations.] Third, `[i]f a race-neutral explanation is tendered, the trial court must then decide . . . whether the opponent of the strike has proved purposeful racial discrimination.' [Citation.]" (Johnson v. California, supra, 545 U.S. at p. ___, 125 S.Ct. at p. 2416, fn. omitted.) Here, because the trial court found that defendant had not made out a prima facie case, it did not move on to steps two and three. We now know that the trial court erred in this respect.

Defendant argues that we must reverse the judgment outright and order a new jury trial. The Attorney General argues that we should remand the matter for the trial court to conduct steps two and three and determine whether discrimination did, in fact, occur. The federal courts generally remand for further hearings in this situation. In Batson itself, the high court remanded the matter and instructed, "If the trial court decides that the facts establish, prima facie, purposeful discrimination and the prosecutor does not come forward with a neutral explanation for his action, our precedents require that petitioner's conviction be reversed." (Batson, supra, 476 U.S. at p. 100, 106 S.Ct. 1712; see also Miller-El v. Dretke (2005) 545 U.S. 231, ___, 125 S.Ct. 2317, 2323 [reviewing a case in which the state appellate court had "remanded the matter to the trial court to determine whether Miller-El could show that prosecutors in his case peremptorily struck prospective black jurors because of race"].) The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has also remanded for further proceedings. (E.g., Williams v. Runnels (9th Cir.2006) 432 F.3d 1102, 1110 & fn. 14; Paulino v. Castro (9th Cir.2004) 371 F.3d 1083, 1093; Fernandez v. Roe (9th Cir. 2002) 286 F.3d 1073, 1080.)

Defendant relies primarily on California, not federal, law in arguing for an outright reversal and new trial. In past cases, including one post-Batson case,

[136 P.3d 1100]

this court has refused to order a limited remand. "The People suggest . . . that we merely order a `limited remand' to permit the prosecutor to explain his reasons for excluding the prospective jurors in question. We observe that, although our court has rejected such a procedure in prior cases (see People v. Hall [(1983)] 35 Cal.3d 161, 170-171[, 197 Cal.Rptr. 71, 672 P.2d 854] [trial held more than three years before reversal of judgment]; People v. Allen (1979) 23 Cal.3d 286, 295, fn. 4[, 152 Cal. Rptr. 454, 590 P.2d 30] [trial held nearly three years before reversal of judgment]), the United States Supreme Court in the subsequently decided case of Batson v. Kentucky, supra, 476 U.S. at page 100, employed such a remand. (See also United States v. Tindle (4th Cir. 1986) 808 F.2d 319 [remand after more than three years].) [¶] In Batson, the case had been tried only two years prior to reversal of the judgment. In the present case, voir dire examination commenced in November 1981, approximately six years ago. As in Hall, we believe it would be `unrealistic to believe that the prosecutor could now recall in greater detail his reasons for the exercise of the peremptory challenges in issue, or that the trial judge could assess those reasons, as required, which would demand that he recall the circumstances of the case, and the manner in which the prosecutor examined the venire and exercised his other challenges.' (35 Cal.3d at p. 171[, 197 Cal.Rptr. 71, 672 P.2d 854].)" (People v. Snow (1987) 44 Cal.3d 216, 226-227, 242 Cal.Rptr. 477, 746 P.2d 452.)

Defendant argues that principles of stare decisis require us to adhere to our previous decisions rather than follow the federal remand procedure. However, developments since our most recent refusal to order a limited remand (People v. Snow, supra, 44 Cal.3d 216, 242 Cal.Rptr. 477, 746 P.2d 452), including especially the high court decision in this case, convince us that we should now adopt the federal approach. We should at least attempt to have the trial court resolve the matter on remand. The error in Snow and cases it cited was one of state law. The error here was a federal constitutional violation. The remand procedure seems to work reasonably well in federal court. Moreover, the consequences of refusing to remand are different now than they were in Snow. The high court has now informed us that the California standard for a prima facie showing was too high. This circumstance might cause more findings of error in cases tried before the high court opinion in this case than have occurred in the past. In this situation, we see no compelling reason to provide a more favorable remedy than the federal courts themselves provide. This is especially so given the fact that the trial court did not have the benefit of the United States Supreme Court's decision in this case. (See Williams v. Runnels, supra, 432 F.3d at p. 1110, fn. 14 [noting this circumstance in ordering a limited remand].) We have recognized that in some situations the limited remand "procedure is preferable to reversal of the judgment. (See [Pen.Code,] § 1260; People v. Minor (1980) 104 Cal.App.3d 194, 199-200, 163 Cal.Rptr.

[136 P.3d 1101]

501, and cases cited therein.)" (People v. Hall, supra, 35 Cal.3d at p. 170, 197 Cal.Rptr. 71, 672 P.2d 854.) We think this is now one of those situations.

Defendant raises several objections to this conclusion. He argues that a limited remand "would look like an effort to avoid the United States Supreme Court's decisions in Batson and [this case]." We disagree. As we have explained, under Batson, when the defendant has stated a prima facie case of improper use of peremptory challenges, the trial court must move on to steps two and three. A limited remand would permit it to do so. The high court in this case held that defendant had established a prima facie case under Batson because there were "inferences that discrimination may have occurred . . . ." (Johnson v. California, supra, 545 U.S. at p. ___, 125 S.Ct. at p. 2419, italics added.) It did not hold that discrimination did occur. The court remanded the matter to this court for further proceedings not inconsistent...