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Name: People v. Turner
Case #: B138940
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 2 DCA
Division: 1
Opinion Date: 06/28/2001
Subsequent History: None
Summary

Reversal was required where the prosecutor excused two of the only African-American jurors, one because she was “from Inglewood,” and was childless, and the other because she had an “unfriendly demeanor.” Defense counsel had made a prima facie case of discriminatory exclusion, since there were only two African-American jurors who had been questioned, and other jurors with the same characteristics other than race had been retained. The burden then shifted to the prosecutor to present a race-neutral explanation of the challenge. The fact that the juror was “from Inglewood” was not a satisfactory explanation, since African-Americans comprise about half of the population of Inglewood. Since the prosecutor failed to demonstrate that the excluded jurors were not excluded due to group bias, reversal was required.