Pellegrino v. AMPCO SYSTEM PARKING

785 N.W.2d 45, 486 Mich. 330
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedJune 28, 2010
DocketDocket 137111
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 785 N.W.2d 45 (Pellegrino v. AMPCO SYSTEM PARKING) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pellegrino v. AMPCO SYSTEM PARKING, 785 N.W.2d 45, 486 Mich. 330 (Mich. 2010).

Opinions

Markman, J.

This case raises the question whether, absent a finding that a peremptory challenge is barred by Batson v Kentucky, 476 US 79; 106 S Ct 1712; 90 L Ed 2d 69 (1986), because it is motivated by race, a trial court may nevertheless deny a party the use of a peremptory challenge on the basis of the court’s desire to attain a racially proportionate jury. We hold that such a denial violates the rule of Batson that jurors must be “indifferently chosen” and is therefore in violation of both the equal protection guarantees of the federal and state constitutions, US Const, Am Xiy § 1 and Const 1963 art 1, § 2, and MCR 2.511(F)(2). Decisions to include, and to exclude, particular jurors must be undertaken without consideration of race. Accordingly, we reverse the contrary judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand for a new trial on the issue of damages only.

I. FACTS and history

On April 7, 2003, Anthony Pellegrino and his wife, Shirley, were riding in an airport shuttle van operated by defendant, Ampco System Parking, when the van swerved on ice and hit a concrete barrier. Shirley was killed, and Anthony sustained serious injuries. As per[334]*334sonal representative of Shirley’s estate and individually on his own behalf, Anthony filed a third-party no-fault action against defendant, which conceded liability, leaving for trial only the question of damages.

Before voir dire, the trial court instructed the attorneys that “it would be a goal of [the court] to have a jury that represented the racial composition of this county.” Subsequently at voir dire, defense counsel sought to peremptorily excuse prospective juror Sylvia Greene, an African-American woman, and plaintiffs’ counsel raised an objection based on Batson, alleging that defense counsel had already peremptorily challenged two prospective jurors on the basis of race. In response, defense counsel argued that he wanted to excuse Greene because she had been widowed two times and was in the process of grieving over the death of her mother. Without making any finding about whether plaintiffs’ counsel had established grounds for denying the peremptory challenge, the trial court denied it, and Greene remained on the jury.

After invoking MCR 2.511(F),* 1 2defense counsel asserted that he had supplied a legitimate nonracial rationale for his peremptory challenges and argued that [335]*335plaintiffs’ Batson issue was a “red herring” and unsupported. He then advised the trial court that he intended to file a motion either to remove Greene or for a mistrial, to which the trial court responded: “We have a jury of eight women. Three are African-American. In my view, it adequately represents the community from which this case arises.” In a unanimous verdict, the six jurors who deliberated eventually awarded $14.9 million to plaintiffs.

Defense counsel again objected to the court’s denial of his peremptory challenge in a posttrial motion and requested a new trial. He argued that the trial court had failed to follow Batson procedures, stating that, although it is an “emulative approach” to want to “equaliz[e] jurors because of the Wayne County problems of amassing enough minority jurors,” it is “not the law.” Defense counsel also asserted that MCR 2.511(F)(2) superseded the court’s own view of its obligations in the selection of juries.

In denying the motion, the trial court rejected the notion that an objection based on Batson could only be sustained on a showing of racial considerations, asserting that “the federal threshold is dreadful and it renders nugatory the Batson challenge.” After indicating further that it did not think defense counsel was “racist” or should be accused of “racism,” the trial court stated:

... I told you on the record, and this may get me into hot water with [the] Appeals Court, I won’t find it. I will not do that.
... I have six African American children of my own. I am not going to indulge in the race baiting that that kind of an opinion or that kind of finding would require of me.

[336]*336Defense counsel then interjected that the whole point of peremptory challenges is to excuse prospective jurors even though they do not meet the legal disqualification standards of MCR 2.511(D), and the trial court continued:

Well I guess I’m [in] sufficient hot water with the appellate courts to say I’m not going to ... indulge in ... race baiting .... Now if the Supreme Court rules that way, I suspect they would not but if they do, then I’ll have to decide whether I can function as a judge any longer.

Finally, the trial court stated that it understood that defense counsel was

focusing upon the intent of the Batson challenge. However, there are competing interests. There is no other county in the state of Michigan with as diverse racial composition as Wayne County....
... I am until either removed from the bench by the disciplinary committee or ordered to have a new trial, I am going to seek to have this proportional representation on the juries that hear cases in this court. I can’t be clearer. I’m going to do it until I’m ordered not to do it and then when I’m ordered not to do it, then I’ll have to decide what’s next for me.

Defendant appealed in the Court of Appeals, raising a host of issues, including the trial court’s denial of its peremptory challenge, and that Court affirmed in a split decision. Pellegrino v Ampco Sys Parking, unpublished opinion per curiam of the Court of Appeals, issued May 27, 2008 (Docket No. 274743). The majority concluded that although the trial court had not followed Batson procedures, no constitutional error occurred because such an error occurs only when a prospective juror is excused on the basis of race, rather than [337]*337included on that basis. Thus, the majority opined, the trial court had merely denied defendant the use of a single peremptory challenge, which was subject to a harmless-error analysis. The majority then concluded that the error was, in fact, harmless because the only issue at trial had been damages and the verdict had been unanimous. Finally, the majority asserted that MCR 2.511(F)(2) had not been violated:

To the extent that the trial court desired a racially balanced jury, such a desire does not run afoul of MCR 2.511(F)(2). MCR 2.115(F)(2) [sic] prohibits “[discrimination during voir dire on the basis of race[,]” and we cannot conceive how the trial court’s desire to have a racially balanced jury could possibly be characterized as “discrimination” under MCR 2.115(F)(2) [sic], [Id. at 9.]

Judge O’CONNELL, in partial dissent, stated:

The trial court’s refusal to follow the law was not confined to Batson. During jury selection, defendant’s counsel also brought to the trial court’s attention a Michigan Supreme Court order regarding what ultimately became MCR 2.511(F). Our Supreme Court had already stated in [People v] Knight, [473 Mich 324; 701 NW2d 715 (2005)], that “the right to a fair and impartial jury does not entail ensuring any particular racial composition of the jury.”3 Id. at 349.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
785 N.W.2d 45, 486 Mich. 330, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pellegrino-v-ampco-system-parking-mich-2010.