Reddicks v. State

10 S.W.3d 360, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 4599, 1999 WL 415381
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 23, 1999
DocketNo. 05-98-00279-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 10 S.W.3d 360 (Reddicks v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reddicks v. State, 10 S.W.3d 360, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 4599, 1999 WL 415381 (Tex. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

[362]*362OPINION

CAROLYN WRIGHT, Justice.

Marcus Reddicks appeals his conviction for robbery. After the jury found appellant guilty, the trial court assessed punishment, enhanced by a previous felony conviction, at forty years’ confinement.1 In a single point of error, appellant contends that the trial court erred by overruling his objection to the State’s use of a peremptory challenge. We overrule appellant’s point of error and affirm the trial court’s judgment.

Batson2Challenge

Appellant contends the trial court erred in overruling his objection to the State’s use of a peremptory challenge. Appellant maintains that the record from the Batson hearing affirmatively shows that the State engaged in purposeful discrimination and the trial court erred in concluding otherwise. We disagree.

When reviewing a Batson challenge, we examine the record in the light most favorable to the trial court’s ruling. See Keeton v. State, 749 S.W.2d 861, 870 (Tex.Crim.App.1988). We reverse the trial court’s ruling only when it is clearly erroneous. See Esteves v. State, 849 S.W.2d 822, 823 (Tex.Crim.App.1993); Harris v. State, 827 S.W.2d 949, 955 (Tex.Crim.App.), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 942, 113 S.Ct. 381, 121 L.Ed.2d 292 (1992). A ruling is clearly erroneous when, after searching the record, we are left with the “definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” Hill v. State, 827 S.W.2d 860, 865 (Tex.Crim.App.), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 905, 113 S.Ct. 297, 121 L.Ed.2d 221 (1992). If the trial court’s ruling is supported by the record, including the voir dire, the prosecutor’s explanation of its peremptory challenges, appellant’s rebuttal, and any impeaching evidence, the trial court’s ruling is not clearly erroneous. See Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 364, 111 S.Ct. 1859, 114 L.Ed.2d 395 (1991).

To challenge the State’s use of peremptory strikes under Batson, a defendant must first make a prima facie showing that the State exercised peremptory strikes on the basis of race. See Batson, 476 U.S. at 96, 106 S.Ct. 1712; see also Harris, 827 S.W.2d at 955. Once a defendant makes a prima .facie showing of purposeful discrimination, the State must come forward with a race neutral explanation for striking the jurors in question. See Batson, 476 U.S. at 97-98, 106 S.Ct. 1712; Harris, 827 S.W.2d at 955; Johnson v. State, 959 S.W.2d 284, 289 (Tex.App.Dallas 1997, pet. ref'd). The State must give clear, legitimate, and reasonably specific reasons for striking particular jurors. Whitsey v. State, 796 S.W.2d 707, 713 (Tex.Crim.App.1990) (op. on reh’g). If the State provides a race neutral explanation for its strikes, the defendant must then rebut the State’s explanation or show the explanation was merely a sham or pretext. See Williams v. State, 804 S.W.2d 95, 101 (Tex.Crim.App.), cert. denied, 501 U.S. 1239, 111 S.Ct. 2875, 115 L.Ed.2d 1038 (1991). The defendant has the ultimate burden to persuade the trial court by a preponderance of the evidence that the allegations of purposeful discrimination are true. The burden of persuasion remains with, and never shifts from, the opponent of the strike. Purkett v. Elem, 514 U.S. 765, 768, 115 S.Ct. 1769, 131 L.Ed.2d 834 (1995); Johnson, 959 S.W.2d at 290.

In reviewing the explanations given by the State for challenging a particular juror, we look at the facial validity of the State’s explanation. Unless a discriminatory intent is inherent in the State’s explanation, the reasons offered will be deemed race neutral. Hernandez, 500 [363]*363U.S. at 360, 111 S.Ct. 1859. Striking a potential juror based on a rating for prior jury service may constitute a race neutral explanation for the exercise of a peremptory strike. See Webb v. State, 840 S.W.2d 543, 546 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1992, no pet.); Ivatury v. State, 792 S.W.2d 845, 848 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1990, pet. ref'd).

In this case, appellant and the prosecutor each delivered a strike list to the trial court following voir dire. Appellant objected to the State’s use of peremptory strikes on five members of the venire: Juror No. 3, Juror No. 17, Juror No. 25, Juror No. 28, and Juror No. 29. The trial court asked for and the prosecutor gave his reasons for striking the potential jurors. Thus, we need not consider the preliminary issue of whether appellant made a prima facie case. See Hill, 827 S.W.2d at 865 (review of prima facie case is not necessary where prosecutor has articulated reasons for the challenged strike). On appeal, appellant complains about only one of the State’s five peremptory strikes, Juror No. 29, Evelyn Washington, an African-American female.

In response to appellant’s objections, the prosecutor explained that he struck Washington because:

Number 29, Ms. Washington, was also rated as a fair juror on her previous jury service.
[[Image here]]
That was the only reason I have written down here on Ms. Washington. And she mentioned, when Mr. Allen was talking to her, that the jury that she sat on was a drug jury and that’s, in fact, what the records reflect, that it was a possession with intent to deliver and the jury gave a probated sentence on that and she was marked down on our record as a fair juror in that case.

The prosecutor then added that he also struck Juror No. 14, a Caucasian male, because he had been previously rated as a bad juror and Juror No. 46, a Caucasian female, for being a fair juror on the State’s rating system. A rating for prior jury service is a facially valid reason for the exercise of a peremptory strike. See Webb, 840 S.W.2d at 546; Ivatury, 792 S.W.2d at 848. Thus, the burden shifted back to appellant to rebut the State’s explanation or to show the explanation was merely a sham or pretext. See Williams, 804 S.W.2d at 101.

On cross-examination, the prosecutor explained why he did not question Washington about her previous jury service as follows:

I saw no reason to ask her any questions. I had written down what the case was, the case number that she was a juror on, the nature of the offense and the sentence that jury gave and the rating of the juror. Having the ratings of the prosecutors in the past and having been a prosecutor for twelve years, I think probation for a possession with intent to deliver is not a good, is not a good sentence, and so I have no reason to quarrel with the rating.

Defense counsel then asked the prosecutor for the records regarding the rating system.

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

Related

Dunn, Roger Fitzgerald v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2003

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
10 S.W.3d 360, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 4599, 1999 WL 415381, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reddicks-v-state-texapp-1999.