During jury voir dire appellant made a Wheeler motion to dismiss the entire jury venire, because the prosecutor had excused three jurors who were either Black or Hispanic. The trial court did not ask the prosecutor to explain her reasons, and found there was no basis for concluding the challenges were exercised on the basis of race. The appellate court here found that appellant waived any assertion of error with regard to his Wheeler motion because he failed to make an adequate record. The record did not identify which of the prosecutors challenges were at issue, and appellant did not show that there were no race-neutral grounds for excluding the challenged jurors. The record did show some possible race-neutral grounds for the jurors exclusion. Further, appellant did not have standing to assert any error regarding the denial of the Peoples Wheeler motion. (The prosecution based its motion on the defendants exercise of challenges against white males.)
Case Summaries