State v. Thorpe

783 N.W.2d 749, 280 Neb. 11
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedJune 18, 2010
DocketS-09-442
StatusPublished
Cited by169 cases

This text of 783 N.W.2d 749 (State v. Thorpe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Thorpe, 783 N.W.2d 749, 280 Neb. 11 (Neb. 2010).

Opinion

783 N.W.2d 749 (2010)
280 Neb. 11

STATE of Nebraska, appellee,
v.
Terrell T. THORPE, appellant.

No. S-09-442.

Supreme Court of Nebraska.

June 18, 2010.

*754 Andrew J. Wilson, of Walentine, O'Toole, McQuillan & Gordon, Omaha, for appellant.

Jon Bruning, Attorney General, and George R. Love for appellee.

HEAVICAN, C.J., WRIGHT, CONNOLLY, GERRARD, STEPHAN, McCORMACK, and MILLER-LERMAN, JJ.

CONNOLLY, J.

I. SUMMARY

After a jury trial, the State convicted Terrell T. Thorpe of two counts of first degree murder and two counts of use of a weapon to commit a felony. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment without parole on each of the murder counts and to 30 to 40 years' imprisonment and 40 to 50 years' imprisonment on the use of a weapon counts. He appeals his convictions and sentences. We affirm his convictions on the murder charges and the convictions and sentences on the weapons charges. But we conclude that the life without parole sentences are invalid. We vacate the life without parole sentences and remand to the district court to sentence Thorpe to life sentences.

II. ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

Thorpe assigns three errors: (1) The court erred in failing to find that the State's use of a peremptory challenge to exclude juror No. 31 violated his right to equal protection; (2) the court erred in overruling his motion for mistrial based on the improper contact between a witness and a juror; and (3) the court erred in giving instruction No. 14 regarding conscious guilt.

III. BACKGROUND

The underlying facts are substantially similar to those addressed by this court in State v. Sellers,[1] which addressed an accomplice's appeal. Summarized, the facts are that on two separate occasions, Taiana Matheny lured a young male to a remote *755 location, and then Terry Sellers and Thorpe beat, robbed, and murdered him. Thorpe's appeal focuses on three events that occurred during his trial, and so we will set out additional facts to separately address these issues.

IV. ANALYSIS

1. BATSON CHALLENGE DURING JURY SELECTION

Thorpe argues that the State exercised a peremptory challenge to remove juror No. 31 solely because of her race. The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment forbids prosecutors from using peremptory challenges for this reason.[2]

(a) Additional Facts

During voir dire, the prosecutor asked, "[I]f the State proves beyond a reasonable doubt that . . . Thorpe is guilty of these charges, is there anyone here that would not be able to vote guilty?" Juror No. 31 answered:

Just with the evidence that they're saying, I still would have a problem. `Cause how do I know it's real, you know? . . . And if he's saying he didn't do it, how do I even know he's telling the truth? But I wouldn't just say, oh, yeah, he did it, you know.

The prosecutor then explained that the jurors were to decide whether, based upon what they saw and heard in the courtroom, the State had proved guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Juror No. 31 responded:

Because I have a problem with that, with the reasonable doubt. If you're not sure yourselves, how would you be able to say, yeah, you did it? I mean, that's my—my thinking.
The reasonable doubt, um, well, it says at this time you blah, blah, blah or this time blah, blah, blah. But we didn't see at that time, but we're saying all evidence shows it, and that's what I have a problem with.

When the prosecutor explained that a "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard was the standard applied in every criminal case in America, juror No. 31 interrupted:

Well, I have the same feelings—you know, I have the same feelings with all of it. If I didn't see you—like I'm at home with my children and I don't see it. This one is saying that and this one is saying—the older people are like, whoop `em all and you get the right one.
Well, now they're all bigger and so I can't do it like that. Sometimes I let it go because we're bickering and arguing and I don't know who did it. But that happens in my life a lot. So like I said, I couldn't just say, okay, what so-and-so is saying, I'll go with that.

When the prosecutor responded that "[i]t sounds to me like what you're saying is that you put that burden of proof pretty high," juror No. 31 answered, "Yes, I do."

Ultimately, the State exercised one of its peremptory strikes on juror No. 31. Thorpe objected, arguing that the strike violated the principles of Batson v. Kentucky.[3] In response, the prosecutor noted that of the 38 total jurors struck by the State and the defense, 4 were African-American. The prosecutor further noted that of those four, two were stricken by the defense, one by the court, and only one, juror No. 31, by the State. When asked by the court why it struck juror No. 31, the prosecutor responded:

*756 The same reason the State struck . . . Juror No. 23. Both [juror No. 31] and [juror No. 23], in describing their interpretation of beyond a reasonable doubt, they both said that they gave it a very high standard, higher than I believe what the law requires.
[Juror No. 31], in fact, I believe said that she would have a difficult time finding someone guilty if she didn't actually see them do it herself. That would be the State's reason . . . .

The prosecutor then clarified that the specific statement made by juror No. 31 that concerned him was, "How would I know he did it if I didn't see him do it." The prosecutor also noted that he was concerned because juror No. 31 had stated that the prosecutors "don't even know whether he did it, and now we have to decide." The prosecutor explained that another reason for the strike was that juror No. 31's comments left the "impression that she didn't believe the State believed . . . Thorpe was guilty." The court overruled the Batson challenge.

(b) Standard of Review

The evaluation of whether a party has used peremptory challenges in a racially discriminatory manner is a three-step process.[4] First, the trial court must determine whether the defendant has made a prima facie showing that the prosecutor has exercised peremptory challenges because of race.[5] Second, if the defendant makes the requisite showing, the burden shifts to the prosecutor to present a race-neutral explanation for striking the juror in question.[6] Third, the trial court then determines whether the defendant has carried his or her burden of proving purposeful discrimination.[7] The third step requires the court to evaluate the persuasiveness of the justification proffered by the prosecutor, but the ultimate burden of persuasion regarding racial motivation rests with, and never shifts from, the opponent of the strike.[8]

In several cases, we have stated that the adequacy of a party's neutral explanation of its peremptory challenges is a factual determination.[9] But this standard has confused the facial validity of an attorney's proffered explanation with its persuasiveness. In Hernandez v. New York,[10] the U.S. Supreme Court's plurality opinion stated that "[i]n evaluating the race neutrality of an attorney's explanation, a court must determine whether, assuming the proffered reasons for the peremptory challenges are true, the challenges violate the Equal Protection Clause as a matter of law.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
783 N.W.2d 749, 280 Neb. 11, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-thorpe-neb-2010.