Jones v. State

951 So. 2d 568, 2006 Miss. App. LEXIS 621, 2006 WL 2406353
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Jones v. State. Read the opinion of the Court — 885 So. 2d 83
Court of Appeals of Mississippi·Decided August 22, 2006·No. No. 2005-KA-00851-COA·Published

Opinion

LEE, P.J.,

for the Court.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 1. Patty Smith1 was in the seventh grade when she confided to an older friend that Tommy Jones, her mother’s live-in boyfriend, had been sexually abusing her. The friend, who was also Jones’s younger sister, contacted the authorities. Patty was given a pelvic exam at Baptist Memorial Hospital and at the Memphis Sexual Assault Center. Both exams confirmed that Patty had been sexually penetrated. Patty was removed from Jones’s home and was eventually placed in foster care because her mother returned to live with Jones.

¶ 2. A jury was empaneled on March 21, 2005, and the trial court, Assistant District Attorney Robert Kelly and Jones’s attorney, David Walker, conducted voir dire. After voir dire the parties retired to chambers to select the jury in the presence of Joe Reid, Panola County Circuit Court Clerk. The State used one peremptory challenge and tendered a panel of twelve jurors. Jones then struck juror 18, juror 20, juror 29, juror 39, juror 63, and juror 65. Citing Georgia v. McCollum, 505 U.S. [570]*57042, 112 S.Ct. 2348, 120 L.Ed.2d 33 (1992), the State challenged the peremptory strikes because Jones had stricken five Caucasian males from the jury.

¶ 3. Jones was convicted of statutory rape and sexual battery and sentenced to serve terms of fifteen years and twenty years, respectively. It is from this conviction that Jones appeals, arguing five points of error, which we quote verbatim:

(1) the trial court erred by finding that the State had made a prima facie case of racial discrimination regarding the peremptory strikes exercised by the Defendant; (2) the trial court erred by not making an on-the-record finding regarding the race-neutrality of the reasons offered by the Defendant for those peremptory strikes; (3) the trial court erred by finding that the reasons offered by the Defendant for his peremptory strikes were not racially neutral; (4) even if the reasons offered by the Defendant were not racially neutral, the trial court erred by disallowing the Defendant his original peremptory strikes because the State failed to carry its burden to demonstrate pretext; (5) the trial court erred by disallowing the Defendant to consider the entire jury panel for peremptory strikes, after the trial court had disallowed certain earlier strikes under McCollum.

Additional facts will be discussed during the opinion as appropriate for disposing of Jones’s contentions.

¶ 4. Finding no error, we affirm.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 5. As Jones’s assignments of error stem from purported misapplications of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 96, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986), our standard of review requires reversal only if the factual findings of the trial judge are “clearly erroneous or against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.” Tanner v. State, 764 So.2d 385, 393(¶ 14) (Miss.2000). Determinations made by a trial judge under Batson are accorded great deference because they are “based, in a large part, on credibility.” Coleman v. State, 697 So.2d 777, 785 (Miss.1997). In the Batson context, the term “great deference” has been defined as “insulating from appellate reversal any trial findings which are not clearly erroneous.” Lockett v. State, 517 So.2d 1346, 1349-50 (Miss.1987).

I. DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN FINDING THAT THE STATE MADE A PRIMA FACIE CASE OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION REGARDING JONES’S PEREMPTORY STRIKES?

¶ 6. Jones argues that the trial court erred in finding that the State made a prima facie case that Jones had used his peremptory strikes to exclude members of a certain racial group from the jury. As previously discussed in this opinion, Jones used six peremptory strikes, five of which applied to five Caucasian males. The State objected to the strikes, and the trial court agreed that the use of the strikes showed evidence of racial, and perhaps gender, discrimination.

¶ 7. It is well-established law that the same Batson analysis applies whether the objections originate from the State or the defense. McCollum, 505 U.S. at 59, 112 S.Ct. 2348; State v. Rogers, 847 So.2d 858, 862 (¶¶ 16-19) (Miss.2003); McFarland v. State, 707 So.2d 166, 171(¶13) (Miss.1998). “Under Batson, the party objecting to the peremptory challenge must first make a prima facie showing that race was the criteria for the exercise of the peremptory strike.” McFarland, 707 So.2d at 171(¶ 13) (citing Batson, 476 U.S. at 96-97, 106 S.Ct. 1712; Stewart v. State, 662 So.2d 552, 557 (Miss.1995)); see also Griffin v. State, 610 So.2d 354, 356 (Miss.[571]*5711992) (holding that within the Batson context “what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander”).

¶ 8. The primary question is “whether the opponent of the strike has met the burden of showing that proponent has engaged in a pattern of strikes based on race or gender, or in other words ‘the totality of the relevant facts gives rise to an inference of discriminatory purpose.’ ” Puckett v. State, 788 So.2d 752, 757(¶ 14) (Miss.2001) (quoting Randall v. State, 716 So.2d 584, 587(¶ 16) (Miss.1998)). The record reflects that Jones is African-American, while each of the jurors stricken, save for juror 20, were Caucasian males. The trial court held that the State had presented a prima facie case that Jones was striking jurors based upon their race and possibly then-gender.

¶ 9. After the State voiced its objection under Batson, Jones proceeded to provide race-neutral reasons for his strikes. When racially neutral reasons for the peremptory strikes are given, the question of the sufficiency of the prima facie case is moot. Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 359, 111 S.Ct. 1859, 114 L.Ed.2d 395 (1991); Manning v. State, 735 So.2d 323, 339(¶ 28) (Miss.1999); Woodward v. State, 726 So.2d 524, 530(¶23) (Miss.1997); Aguilar v. State, 847 So.2d 871, 876(¶ 9) (Miss.Ct.App.2002). As this issue is moot, we proceed to the other issues raised on appeal.

II. DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN HIS FINDING REGARDING JONES’S EXPLANATION FOR HIS PEREMPTORY STRIKES?

III. DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN FINDING THAT JONES’S PEREMPTORY STRIKES WERE IMPROPER?

IV. DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN DISALLOWING JONES HIS ORIGINAL FIVE PEREMPTORY STRIKES BECAUSE THE STATE FAILED TO CARRY ITS BURDEN OF PRETEXT?

¶ 10. Jones’s next three issues address the trial court’s findings that Jones failed to articulate race-neutral reasons for his peremptory strikes; as these issues involve the same law and precedent, we address them together. Jones argues that the trial court erred in not making explicit, on-the-record findings regarding Jones’s race-neutral reasons for his peremptory strikes against the jurors, and that the trial court erred in finding that his peremptory strikes were improper.

¶ 11. After the party opposing the strikes makes its prima facie case, the side exercising the strikes must articulate racially-neutral reasons for the strikes. McFarland, 707 So.2d at 171(¶ 14). Such explanations do not have to be persuasive, or even plausible. Lynch v. State,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Jones v. State, 951 So. 2d 568, 2006 Miss. App. LEXIS 621, 2006 WL 2406353 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006).

951 So. 2d 568 (Jones v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Batson v. Kentucky
476 U.S. 79 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Hernandez v. New York
500 U.S. 352 (Supreme Court, 1991)
Georgia v. McCollum
505 U.S. 42 (Supreme Court, 1992)
Tanner v. State
764 So. 2d 385 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2000)
Randall v. State
716 So. 2d 584 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1998)
Webster v. State
754 So. 2d 1232 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2000)
Lockett v. State
517 So. 2d 1346 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1987)
Moody v. State
841 So. 2d 1067 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2003)
Simmons v. State
805 So. 2d 452 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2001)
Hatten v. State
628 So. 2d 294 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1993)
McFarland v. State
707 So. 2d 166 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1998)
Walker v. State
815 So. 2d 1209 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2002)
Johnson v. State
875 So. 2d 208 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2004)
Lynch v. State
877 So. 2d 1254 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2004)
Puckett v. State
788 So. 2d 752 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2001)
Aguilar v. State
847 So. 2d 871 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2002)
State v. Rogers
847 So. 2d 858 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2003)
Bush v. State
585 So. 2d 1262 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1991)
Le v. State
913 So. 2d 913 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2005)
Berry v. State
802 So. 2d 1033 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2001)