Grayson v. State

736 So. 2d 394, 1999 Miss. App. LEXIS 99, 1999 WL 119205
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 9, 1999
DocketNo. 97-KA-01257 COA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 736 So. 2d 394 (Grayson v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Grayson v. State, 736 So. 2d 394, 1999 Miss. App. LEXIS 99, 1999 WL 119205 (Mich. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

BRIDGES, C.J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Francis Grayson was convicted in the Circuit Court of Jones County on September 26, 1997, of the sale of cocaine and was sentenced to serve a term of fifteen years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections with five years suspended and a fine of $1000. Aggrieved, Grayson appeals raising the following issues taken verbatim from her brief:

I. THE COURT ERRED IN NOT QUASHING THE JURY PANEL, AND IN MAKING GRAYSON CHOOSE FROM “SECONDS.”

II. THE COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY TO PEREMPTORILY STRIKE TWO BLACK JURORS BASED ON A RESPONSE FROM A QUESTION NOT ASKED IN VOIR DIRE.

Finding no error to the issues raised, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. On May 13, 1997, Grayson was indicted and charged with the sale of a controlled substance pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 41-29-139(a)(l) (Rev.1993). According to the testimony, an undercover agent went to the New Laurel Motel and purchased $40 worth of crack cocaine from Grayson.

¶ 3. At trial, Grayson objected to the jury panel during the beginning of voir dire claiming that the panel was “thin” as far as members of her race were concerned since an earlier trial also chose jurors from the same panel. The court overruled the objection and later stated the following for the record:

The Court, on further observation, makes this finding that when we started this morning we had thirteen black jurors and one of the Asian ... or a lady from the Philippines. When we started the — when we selected that jury, five of those black people were selected to try that case, or was selected on that jury to try that case. And also I believe the Asian woman was on that jury, which leaves eight black jurors, I believe, on this jury out here to be selected today. So I don’t find that the black representation, or composition, of this jury has been — I don’t think there is a disproportionate amount now than there was then....

The State then peremptorily struck Frederick McRae and Dorothy Pollard, and the court accepted the challenges. Grayson was ultimately convicted of the sale of cocaine and sentenced to fifteen years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections with five years suspended and fined $1000. Aggrieved, Grayson has perfected this appeal.

ARGUMENT AND DISCUSSION OF LAW

I. WHETHER THE COURT ERRED IN REFUSING TO QUASH THE JURY PANEL.

¶ 4. Grayson argues on appeal that she was denied a fair trial since she was forced to pick a jury from a pool of venire that had already been used in selection of another jury for a trial earlier in the week. Grayson contends that the jury failed to [396]*396reflect the racial makeup of Jones County since several blacks were chosen for an earlier trial. Grayson made a motion to quash the entire jury panel, but the trial judge denied it.

¶ 5. In Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 88, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986), the United States Supreme Court stated the following:

Thus, the Court has found a denial of equal protection where the procedure implementing a neutral statute operated to excuse persons from the venire on racial grounds, and has made clear that the Constitution prohibits all forms of purposeful discrimination in selection of jurors. While decisions of this Court have been concerned largely with discrimination during selection of the veni-re, the principle announced there also forbid[s] discrimination on account of race in selection of the petit jury.

¶ 6. After careful review of the record, it appears that the veniremen were randomly selected without any notice that the prospective jurors were either white or black. Thus, were this the sole argument on the issue, we would summarily deny the assignment of error, but Grayson argues that the stages of petit jury selection are tainted and prejudicial due to the minimal amount of black members available to serve on juries after an earlier trial. Grayson contends that she literally got “seconds” or “leftovers” to choose from, and therefore, her motion to quash should have been granted. Grayson argues that there was no reason why she “could not choose from the entire jury panel just as the trial ahead of her did by starting her voir dire on Thursday, the day of her trial.” The United States Supreme Court has not guaranteed such.

[I]n holding that petit juries must be drawn from a source fairly representative of the community we impose no requirement that petit juries actually chosen must mirror the community and reflect the various distinctive groups in the population. Defendants are not entitled to a jury of any particular composition, but the jury wheels, pools of names, panels, or venires from which juries are drawn must not systematically exclude distinctive groups in the community and thereby fail to be reasonable representatives thereof.

Taylor v. Louisiana, 419 U.S. 522, 538, 95 S.Ct. 692, 42 L.Ed.2d 690 (1975) (citations omitted). Further, Mississippi law is clear on this point. “Proportional representation of the races on a jury is not required.” Dorsey v. State, 243 So.2d 550, 552 (Miss.1971). What is required is that county officials must see to it that juries are selected, in fact and in good faith, without regard to race. Id.

¶ 7. In the case sub judice, there is no allegation that the jury did not reasonably reflect a cross section of the community. This is all the law requires; it does not guarantee the appellant a jury with members of his own race. Booker v. State, 449 So.2d 209, 215 (Miss.1984). Therefore, this assignment of error is without merit.

II. WHETHER THE COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING THE STATE TO PEREMPTORILY STRIKE TWO JURORS.

¶ 8. Grayson argues on appeal that the court erred in allowing the State to peremptorily strike two black jurors based on their failure to respond to questions that were never actually asked during voir dire. Specifically, Grayson argues that the State moved to peremptorily strike Frederick McRae on the grounds that he did not respond to a question on whether he had ever had a case or had one currently pending in the prosecutor’s office or before the court. Grayson contends that this question was never asked during voir dire. The State contends that McRae had a possession of cocaine charge and an investigation pending. Furthermore, the State contends that two officers were ready to testify that McRae did in fact know Grayson even though he failed to respond when asked if anyone knew her. [397]*397Grayson argues that the information from the officers would have been inadmissible as hearsay. Grayson’s objection was overruled, and McRae was peremptorily struck from the jury.

¶ 9. Dorothy Pollard was also struck since she failed to reveal when asked that her immediate family had cases pending in the prosecutor’s office. Grayson argues on appeal that the State had failed to actually ask the venire about any cases pending. Moreover, Grayson contends that the State failed to show how she was related to the parties in question, and therefore, Ms. Pollard should not have been struck from the jury.

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Bluebook (online)
736 So. 2d 394, 1999 Miss. App. LEXIS 99, 1999 WL 119205, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grayson-v-state-missctapp-1999.