ANDREW WILEY MACK A/K/A GEORGE CULBREATH, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The Florida District Court of Appeal reversed a defendant's robbery conviction, finding that the state's peremptory challenges of three black prospective jurors violated the defendant's constitutional right to equal protection. The court held that the state failed to provide race-neutral justifications for the challenges that were supported by the record.
The state's peremptory challenges violated equal protection. As to one juror, although arguably valid race-neutral reasons existed in the record, the state failed to articulate them during the required inquiry and thus failed to carry its burden of demonstrating non-discrimination. As to the other two jurors, the trial court erred in failing to conduct the inquiry altogether. The conviction is reversed and the case is remanded for a new trial.
[1] A trial court errs by failing to conduct an inquiry into the racial basis of peremptory challenges when there is a substantial likelihood that the challenges are discrimi…
[2] A prosecutor's justification for a peremptory challenge, such as a juror being "inattentive" or "unresponsive," must be supported by the record.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the trial court erred in failing to find that the state's peremptory challenges of three of the five black prospective jurors, out of twenty prospective jurors, violated defendant's constitutional right to equal protection of the laws”
States the core holding—that excluding three black jurors through peremptory challenges constituted equal protection violation
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe defendant, Andrew Wiley Mack (also known as George Culbreath), was convicted of robbery. During jury selection, the state used peremptory challeng…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Batson Challenge cases and more on FLexlaw
LEHAN, Acting Chief Judge.
We reverse defendant’s conviction for robbery in violation of section 812.13(2)(c), Florida Statutes (1985), and remand for a new trial.
We agree with defendant’s contention that the trial court erred in failing to find that the state’s peremptory challenges of three of the five black prospective jurors, out of twenty prospective jurors, violated defendant’s constitutional right to equal protection of the laws.
As to one of those prospective jurors, the trial court, after finding a substantial likelihood that the challenge was based solely upon race, conducted an inquiry in that regard. At that inquiry the state sought to justify its challenge with the explanation that the juror was “inattentive” and “unresponsive” during voir dire questioning. This explanation is not supported and, in fact, appears refuted, by the record. See State v. Slappy, 522 So. 2d 18, 23 (Fla.), cert. denied, — U.S.—, 108 S.Ct. 2873, 101 L.Ed.2d 909 (1988). While, as the state argues on appeal, the record contains evidence which reflects another explanation of the peremptory challenge of this juror which was arguably valid and racially neutral, the state failed to articulate this explanation during the inquiry and thus failed to carry its burden of demonstrating a lack of discrimination. Id. at 22. Also, an expressed justification by the trial court for the exclusion of the juror, i.e., that the panel still contained one black juror, was not valid. See Slappy, 522 So. 2d at 24; Stubbs v. State, 540 So. 2d 255, 256 (Fla.2d DCA 1989).
As to the other two prospective jurors, the trial court erred in failing to conduct the foregoing type of inquiry. See Sampson v. State, 542 So. 2d 434 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989). “[A]ny doubt as to whether the complaining party has met its initial burden should be resolved in [the complaining] party’s favor.” Slappy, 522 So. 2d at 22.
Reversed and remanded for a new trial.
PARKER and PATTERSON, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Green v. State, 572 So. 2d 543 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990)…e out of five prospective black jurors); Timmons v. State, 548 So. 2d 255, 257 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989) (state had peremptorily challenged the sole prospective black juror on the venire after another black juror had been excused for cause); Mack v. State, 545 So. 2d 489 (Fla.2d DCA 1989) (state had peremptorily challenged three out of five black prospective jurors); and Sampson v. State, 542 So. 2d 434, 435 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989) (state used its first two peremptory challenges against two of the “very few minorities o…
-
Timmons v. State, 548 So. 2d 255 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989)…pply circumstantial evidence law to the case, that she could return a guilty verdict and recommend the death penalty if the evidence supported it, and that she had previously worked at a daycare center with young children. Here, as in Mack v. State, 545 So. 2d 489 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989), a new trial is required because the state had not articulated that explanation to the trial court and thus had failed to carry its burden of demonstrating a lack of discrimination. See Slappy, 522 So. 2d at 22. Also, here, as det…
-
Verdelotti v. State, 560 So. 2d 1328 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990)…three of five prospective black jurors); Timmons v. State, 548 So. 2d 255, 257 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989) (state had peremptorily challenged the sole prospective black juror on the venire after another black juror had been excused for cause); Mack v. State, 545 So. 2d 489 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989) (state had peremptorily challenged three of five black prospective jurors); Sampson v. State, 542 So. 2d 434, 435 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989) (state used its first two peremptory challenges against two of the “very few minorities on the p…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Slappy, 522 So. 2d 18 (Fla. 1988)
- State v. E.B., 540 So. 2d 255 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989)
- Sampson v. State, 542 So. 2d 434 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989)