Reversal was required where the prosecutor challenged all six African Americans on the jury panel. During appellant’s trial, the prosecutor used peremptory challenges to exclude all six African-Americans on the jury panel. Appellant, who was African-American, claimed that the prosecutor based such challenges on race, and the prosecutor then offered race-neutral reasons for their challenges. The Ninth Circuit found that the reasons also applied to unchallenged white jurors, and were pretexts. The California appellate court’s contrary conclusion was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence. Since even one racial strike calls for a retrial and the evidence showed that the prosecutor’s reasons were not genuine for at least one of the jurors, reversal and remand was required.
Case Summaries