TONY HOUSE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Tony House was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery. On appeal, he challenged the prosecution's use of peremptory strikes against two Black jurors during voir dire, arguing the stated reasons were pretextual. The court found that while one strike was supported by the record, the strike of Ms. Barrs (a mental health professional) lacked adequate record support and was pretextual.
The court held that while one minority juror's strike was supported by voir dire, the strike of Ms. Barrs was pretextual and not supported by the record. Although 'liberalism' is a facially acceptable race-neutral reason for a peremptory strike, the trial court must find record support for that reason. Here, the prosecutor offered no voir dire questions to Ms. Barrs establishing her alleged liberal bias, making the explanation unsubstantiated and the challenge an abuse of discretion.
[1] A prosecutor's race-neutral explanation for a peremptory challenge is insufficient if it is not supported by the record.
[2] A trial court must find record support for a prosecutor's race-neutral explanation for a peremptory challenge to ensure it is not pretextual.
Previewing 2 of 4 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“At no point during voir dire did the state attempt to elicit from Ms. Barrs her political or social biases. Quite simply, she was asked no questions tending to confirm the state's misgivings about her ability to serve impartially.”
Establishes that the prosecutor's failure to question the juror about the alleged basis for the peremptory strike undermined the credibility of the race-neutral explanation.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceTony House and two codefendants shot and killed a pedestrian who resisted an attempted armed robbery. House was convicted of first-degree murder and a…
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FRANK, Acting Chief Judge.
Tony House was convicted of first degree murder and attempted armed robbery after he and two codefendants shot and killed a pedestrian who resisted the attempted crime. During jury selection, House objected to the prosecution’s use of peremptory challenges to strike two black venire persons. House argues that the explanations offered to strike the jurors are a mere pretext which find no basis in the record.
The voir dire proceeding supports the race neutral explanation given to strike the first minority member of the venire. We are not, however, satisfied that the record supports the reason offered to strike Ms. Barrs, a black woman employed in the mental health field. At the moment that House indicated a substantial likelihood that the strike was racially grounded, it became incumbent upon the state to rebut the inference with a race neutral explanation. State v. Neil, 457 So. 2d 481 (Fla. 1984).
When asked to support its challenge, the prosecutor offered his personal judgment that “someone who works in mental health would be more liberal than conservative, therefore, I struck her.” “Liberalism” has been sustained as a race neutral and reasonable explanation for a peremptory strike. See State v. Slappy, 522 So. 2d 18 (Fla.), cert. denied, 487 U.S. 1219, 108 S.Ct. 2873, 101 L.Ed.2d 909 (1988).
But the inquiry does not end when the state articulates a facially acceptable reason; the trial court must also find record support for the reason to ensure the state has not given a pretextual explanation for an inappropriate challenge. Slappy, 522 So. 2d at 23-24; Hicks v. State, 591 So. 2d 662 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991); Gadson v. State, 561 So. 2d 1316 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990).
In Slappy, the supreme court determined that the state’s reason for excluding two black jurors — that teachers are ideologically liberal — was pretextual and not sufficiently grounded in the record:
[T]he utter failure to question two of the challenged jurors on the grounds alleged for bias ... renders the state’s explanation immediately suspect. Moreover, we cannot accept the state’s contention that all elementary school assistants, and these two in particular, were liberal. If they indeed possessed this trait, the state could have established it by a few questions taking very little of the court’s time.
Slappy, 522 So. 2d at 23 (footnotes omitted).
At no point during voir dire did the state attempt to elicit from Ms. Barrs her political or social biases. Quite simply, she was asked no questions tending to confirm the state’s misgivings about her ability to serve impartially. On the contrary, she indicated her readiness to follow the law as charged on each element of robbery and felony murder.
Thus, although we appreciate the trial judge’s superior vantage point in assessing a prospective juror’s predisposition for impartial service and the credibility of the prosecutor who challenges that service, see Reed v. State, 560 So. 2d 203 (Fla.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 882, 111 S.Ct. 230, 112 L.Ed.2d 184 (1990), we must conclude that in this instance the trial court abused its discretion; the unsubstantiated allegations of a single juror’s potential for a liberal bias will not sustain the peremptory challenge.
Accordingly, we reverse and remand for a new trial.
PATTERSON and ALTENBERND, JJ., concur.
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Bowden v. State, 787 So. 2d 185 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001)…reason to ensure the state has not given a pretextual explanation for an inappropriate challenge. Slappy, 522 So. 2d at 23-24; Hicks v. State, 591 So. 2d 662 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991); Gadson v. State, 561 So. 2d 1316 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990). House v. State, 614 So. 2d 647, 648 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993). While our supreme court receded from Slappy in Melbourne v. State, [*192] 679 So. 2d 759, 764 (Fla.1996), to the extent it held that the requisite facially race-neutral explanation need not be reasonable, so long as it is ge…
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Cobb v. State, 825 So. 2d 1080 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)…of black teacher of emotionally handicapped students — that mental health professionals are more inclined to help people than convict and punish them — was pretext where the prosecutor failed to question the juror on her liberality); House v. State, 614 So. 2d 647 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993)(ruling that the state’s reason for excluding a black juror, that she worked in the mental health field and that those in that field were more liberal than conservative, could not sustain peremptory challenge); Hicks v. State, 591…
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Reeves v. State, 632 So. 2d 702 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994)…o be shared by the prospective juror in question. See e.g., Stroder v. State, 622 So. 2d 585 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993) (prosecutor failed to question teacher of emotionally handicapped students to explore his perception of her liberality); House v. State, 614 So. 2d 647 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993) (prosecutor failed to question mental health field worker to elicit her political or social biases); Gibson v. State, 603 So. 2d 711 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992) (prosecutor failed to question black fruit picker to elicit economic animosit…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. Neil, 457 So. 2d 481 (Fla. 1984)
- State v. Slappy, 522 So. 2d 18 (Fla. 1988)
- Grover Reed v. State, 560 So. 2d 203 (Fla. 1990)
- Men's Int'l Prof'l Tennis Council v. Volvo N. Am. Corp., 487 U.S. 1219 (U.S. 1988)
- Waste Mgmt. of Wis., Inc. v. Wis. Dep't of Natural Res., 487 U.S. 1219 (U.S. 1988)
- Bryant Hicks v. State, 591 So. 2d 662 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991)
- Gadson v. State, 561 So. 2d 1316 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)