People v. Howard

575 N.W.2d 16, 226 Mich. App. 528
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 10, 1998
DocketDocket 172633
StatusPublished
Cited by145 cases

This text of 575 N.W.2d 16 (People v. Howard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Howard, 575 N.W.2d 16, 226 Mich. App. 528 (Mich. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinions

Gage, J.

After defendant’s first trial ended in a mistrial, defendant was retried and convicted by a jury of two counts of first-degree murder, MCL 750.316; MSA 28.548, and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, MCL 750.227b; MSA 28.424(2). He was sentenced to two concurrent terms of life imprisonment without parole, to be served consecutively to a two-year term for felony-firearm. He appeals as of right. We affirm.

[532]*532This case stems from the November 12, 1992, shooting deaths of David and Terry Lamb, a husband and wife real estate team who were fatally shot while inside defendant’s mother’s house. Defendant admitted shooting the Lambs but claimed self-defense and diminished capacity. According to the defense theory, defendant shot the Lambs after they became threatening and abusive while confronting defendant about some delinquent house payments. On the basis of the defendant’s description of the events, a defense expert concluded that defendant experienced “brief reactive psychosis” as a result of emotional stress and trauma caused by the Lambs’ conduct, thereby rendering him “diminished in capacity to formulate specific intent as it relates to this offense.”

i

Defendant, who is African-American, raises three issues on appeal regarding the jury selection: (1) he was denied his constitutional right to an impartial jury drawn from a fair cross section of the community where only one African-American juror served on his jury and where African-Americans were underrepresented in his particular jury array, (2) the prosecutor used peremptory challenges in a discriminatory manner to strike African-American jurors in violation of Batson v Kentucky, 476 US 79; 106 S Ct 1712; 90 L Ed 2d 69 (1986), and (3) the trial court erred in denying his request for additional peremptory challenges.

A

We reject defendant’s fair cross-section claim. While a criminal defendant is entitled to an impartial jury drawn from a fair cross section of the community, US Const, Am VI, he is not entitled to a petit [533]*533jury that exactly mirrors the community. Taylor v Louisiana, 419 US 522, 538; 95 S Ct 692; 42 L Ed 2d 690 (1975); People v Hubbard (After Remand), 217 Mich App 459, 472; 552 NW2d 593 (1996). To establish a prima facie violation of the fair cross-section requirement, a defendant must show

“(1) that the group alleged to be excluded is a ‘distinctive’ group in the community; (2) that the representation of this group in venires from which juries are selected is not fair and reasonable in relation to the number of such persons in the community; and (3) that this underrepresentation is due to systematic exclusion of the group in the jury-selection process.” [Id. at 473, quoting Duren v Missouri, 439 US 357, 364; 99 S Ct 664; 58 L Ed 2d 579 (1979).]

Although defendant asserts that African-Americans were underrepresented in his particular array, he presented no evidence concerning the representation of African-Americans on jury venires in general. Merely showing one case of alleged underrepresentation does not rise to a “general” underrepresentation that is required for establishing a prima facie case. Timmel v Phillips, 799 F2d 1083, 1086 (CA 5, 1986). Defendant also failed to show that any alleged under-representation was due to systematic exclusion, i.e., an exclusion resulting from some circumstance inherent in the particular jury selection process used. Duren, supra at 366; Hubbard (After Remand), supra at 481. Following a defense objection during jury selection, the trial court summoned the county’s deputy court administrator, who stated that jurors were selected from a source list of residents with driver’s licenses or state identification cards. Defendant did not elicit any other details regarding the selection process, nor did he present any evidence show[534]*534ing that the selection process resulted in the systematic exclusion of African-American residents. It is well settled that “[o]ne incidence of a jury venire being disproportionate is not evidence of a ‘systematic’ exclusion.” Timmel, supra at 1087; see also Hubbard (After Remand), supra at 481.

B

Defendant also argues that the trial court erred in finding that the prosecutor’s reasons for peremptorily dismissing three African-American jurors1 were sufficient to overcome a showing of discriminatory purpose under Batson, supra. We disagree.

To overcome a prima facie showing of discriminatory purpose, the prosecution must come forth with a racially neutral explanation for challenging African-American jurors. Batson, supra at 97. Mere statements of good faith or denial of a discriminatory motive are insufficient; rather, the prosecutor must articulate a neutral explanation related to the particular case being tried. Id. at 98. The trial court must then determine if the defendant has established purposeful discrimination. Id. This Court reviews a trial court’s Batson ruling for an abuse of discretion. Harville v State Plumbing & Heating, Inc, 218 Mich App 302, 319-320; 553 NW2d 377 (1996).

The prosecutor dismissed one of the African-American jurors because she was a renter, explaining that he preferred not to have any renters on the jury, regardless of race. Although defendant asserts that this is a “patently ridiculous” reason for dismissal, it [535]*535is a reason related to the circumstances of this case, inasmuch as the Lambs were shot while inquiring about overdue house payments, a situation more commonly associated with renters. Under the circumstances of the case, it was reasonable for the prosecutor to believe that a renter might be more sympathetic to defendant’s situation.2 Defendant asserts that a second African-American juror was dismissed solely on account of perceived “defensiveness,” a reason defendant contends is too subjective and tenuous to rebut a presumption of purposeful discrimination. However, the record reveals that the juror was dismissed primarily because he had an uncle with whom he was close who had been tried for murder, a race-neutral reason. The final juror in question was dismissed because she was a circuit court probation officer, she was familiar with criminal laws and procedures, and she had previously expressed a desire to be excused from jury service because of job concerns. Although defendant asserts that dismissal of this juror was not justified because she was not familiar with any of the parties and because the trial court alleviated her job concerns, these arguments are more directed toward a dismissal for cause. The prosecutor’s burden of providing a race-neutral reason for exercising a peremptory challenge does not rise to the level of requiring the prosecutor to justify the exercise of a challenge for cause. Batson, supra at 97; People v Barker, 179 Mich App 702, 706; 446 NW2d 549 (1989), aff’d 437 Mich 161; 468 NW2d 492 (1991).

[536]*536The trial court accepted the prosecutor’s race-neutral explanations for dismissing the three African-American jurors in question and concluded that the prosecutor did not excuse the jurors on account of their race. We are satisfied that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in rejecting defendant’s claim of purposeful discrimination.3

c

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
575 N.W.2d 16, 226 Mich. App. 528, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-howard-michctapp-1998.