STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
WILLIE CLAYTON SIMPSON, RESPONDENT

Fla. 4th DCA | 1976-01-16
No. 75-1126
OWEN, J., and ALDERMAN, JAMES E., Associate Judge, concur.
326 So. 2d 54 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1976) Positive Treatment
Cited by 10 cases

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.

Synopsis

The Florida Supreme Court reviewed a trial court's order granting a mistrial based on a finding that the state improperly used peremptory challenges to discriminate against Black jurors. The court held that the trial judge's analysis was improper under Swain v. Alabama because it failed to examine all types of cases and circumstances, and even when limited to capital cases, found no actual evidence of systematic exclusion.


Holding

The court held that the trial court improperly granted the mistrial because it failed to follow the Swain v. Alabama standard, which requires proof of systematic exclusion of Black jurors across all types of cases, circumstances, and over an extended period. The trial court's limited review of only capital cases with white victims and Black defendants was insufficient, and even the cases examined showed no actual evidence of improper exclusion.


Headnotes

[1] A presumption exists that a prosecutor uses peremptory challenges to obtain a fair and impartial jury.

[2] The burden of proving racial discrimination in jury selection rests with the defendant.

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Key Quotes

“The presumption in any particular case must be that the prosecutor is using the State's challenges to obtain a fair and impartial jury to try the case before the court.”

Establishes the fundamental presumption that prosecutors are using peremptory challenges properly, which can only be overcome by proper evidence.

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Facts & Procedural History

The state challenged a trial court order in State v. Simpson granting a mistrial based on racial discrimination in jury selection. The trial court con…

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Opinion of the Court
WALDEN, Chief Judge.

WALDEN, Chief Judge.

The state has brought a petition for certiorari as permitted under Fla. Const, art. V § 4(b)(3) (1972), seeking review of a trial court order granting a mistrial and a discharge of the jury in this case, State v. Simpson, Circuit Court Case No. 74 — 2950. The trial court entered its order based on its finding that the state had, by the use of peremptory challenges, exercised improper racial discrimination when selecting the jury. We have been urged by counsel for defendant that the case is moot, because defendant has been tried and convicted in a subsequent case of State v. Simpson. We choose, however, to exercise our prerogative to grant certiorari. This fact situation presents an issue of great public interest; and the problem might arise in the future unless now clarified. Wilson v. Newell, 223 So. 2d 734 (Fla.1969); Walker v. Pendarvis, 132 So. 2d 186 (Fla.1961); Tau Alpha Holding Corp. v. Board of Adjustments, 126 Fla. 858, 171 So. 819 (1937); State ex rel. Gissendanner v. Leatherman, 237 So. 2d 820 (Fla.App. 3rd, 1970). There is a presumption that the prosecution is using its peremptory challenges properly. In Swain v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 202, 85 S.Ct. 824, 13 L.Ed.2d 759 (1965), the court noted:

“ . . . The presumption in any particular case must be that the prosecutor is using the State’s challenges to obtain a fair and impartial jury to try the case before the court. The presumption is not overcome and the prosecutor therefore subjected to examination by allegations that in the case at hand all Negroes were removed from the jury or that they were removed because they were Negroes. Any other result, we think, would establish a rule wholly at odds with the peremptory challenge system as we know it. Hence the motion to strike the trial jury was properly denied in this case.” 380 U.S. at 222, 85 S.Ct. at 837.

The burden of proving a charge of racial discrimination in jury selection is upon the defendant:

“In short, petitioner has not laid the proper predicate for attacking the peremptory strikes as they were used in this case. Petitioner has the burden of proof and he has failed to carry it.” 380 U.S. at 226, 85 S.Ct. at 839.

“ . . . [T]he defendant must, to pose the issue, show the prosecutors systematic use of peremptory challenges against Negroes over a period of time.” 380 U.S. at 227, 85 S.Ct. at 839. U. S. v. Delay, 500 F. 2d 1360 (8th Cir.1974); U. S. v. Pollard, 483 F. 2d 929 (8th Cir.1973); U. S. v. Pearson, 448 F. 2d 1207 (5th Cir.1971).

In U. S. v. Pearson, supra, the court set forth the standard for judging prosecutorial actions in jury selections. The standard is extremely rigid:

“The burden of proof faced by defendants is most difficult. . It might require checking the docket for a reasonable period of time for the names of defendants and their attorneys, investigation as to the race of the various defendants, the final composition of the petit jury and the manner in which each side exercised it peremptory challenges. We can well understand how the present defendants’ counsel were unable to produce additional evidence. In the six years which have passed since Swain, we have not found a single instance in which a defendant has prevailed on the issue. Nonetheless, the burden is not insurmountable.” Id. at 1217-1218.

In Swain v. Alabama, supra, the Supreme Court noted that systematic exclusion by peremptory challenge of blacks from juries is subject to scrutiny under the Fourteenth Amendment:

“ . . . We have decided that it is permissible to insulate from inquiry the removal of Negroes from a particular jury on the assumption that the prosecutor is acting on acceptable considerations related to the case he is trying, the particular defendant involved and the particular crime charged. But when the prosecutor in a county, in case after case, whatever the circumstances, whatever the crime and vaho ever the defendant or the victim may be, is responsible for the removal of Negroes who have been selected as qualified jurors by the jury commissioners and who have survived challenges for cause, with the result that no Negroes ever serve on petit juries, the Fourteenth Amendment claim takes on added significance.” 380 U.S. at 223, 85 S.Ct. at 837. (Emphasis supplied.)

This portion of Swain v. Alabama, supra, presumes that to prove the kind of activity that would be foreclosed by the Fourteenth Amendment it must be proven that: (1) a particular prosecutor, (2) in every type of case, (3) in every set of circumstances, and (4) for an extended, provable period of time, has (5) peremptorily excused blacks with the result that no black ever served on a petit jury.

In the case here, the trial judge improperly excluded noncapital cases from its review; and even further limited the review to capital cases with white victims and black defendants. This exclusion alone would have invalidated the trial court finding because the review did not include every kind of case in every circumstance.

We feel it necessary, however, to continue and note that the capital cases upon which the court based its holding were devoid of any proof of improper exclusion, and lacked even an inference of such exclusion. The trial court primarily based its ruling on the following five Circuit Court cases besides the instant Simpson case; State v. Pugh, State v. Burgess, State v. Alford, State v. Cheney, and State v. Burch. The individual prosecutor had trial responsibility for only one of those five, and in that case (State v. Pugh) there were black jurors on the jury. In State v. Burgess there was no showing that there were black jurors in the venire or that either side exercised peremptory challenges to remove black jurors. In State v. Alford there were nine prospective black jurors and all were excused from the jury. However, the testimony of both parties here showed that several of these were excused for cause. In State v. Cheney the record clearly shows that blacks served on the jury. In State v. Burch there was testimony that of three or four prospec tive black jurors, one was excused by the court, others were excused for health reasons, and the State excused the other. We agree with the State’s contention that, taking the facts most favorable to the defendants and measuring by the requirements of Swain v. Alabama, supra, there was absolutely no proof nor even any inference of improper conduct on the part of the prosecution. Little v. U. S., 490 F. 2d 686 (8th Cir. 1974); Singleton v. Estelle, 492 F. 2d 671 (Sth Cir. 1974); U. S. v. Conley, 503 F. 2d 520 (8th Cir. 1974); U. S. v. Delay, supra; U. S. v. Pollard, supra; U. S. v. Williams, 446 F. 2d 486 (5th Cir. 1971); Brown v. Crouse, 425 F. 2d 305 (10th Cir. 1970); McKinney v. Walker, 394 F.Supp. 1015 (D.S.C., 1974); see Pitts v. State, 307 So. 2d 473 (Fla.App. 1st, 1975).

The petition for certiorari is granted and the appealed order is quashed.

OWEN, J., and ALDERMAN, JAMES E., Associate Judge, concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Young v. State, 744 So. 2d 1077 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)
    …ible to meet. A defendant was required to show not just that the prosecutor had discriminated in his case, but that the prosecutor had systematically used peremptory challenges against African-Americans “over a period of time.” See State v. Simpson, 326 So. 2d 54, 55 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976) (quoting Swain v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 202, 227, 85 S.Ct. 824, 13 L.Ed.2d 759 (1965), overruled, Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986)). In Simpson, we quoted from United States v. Pearson, 448 F.…
  • Neil v. State, 433 So. 2d 51 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)
    …r an extended provable period of time has (5) peremptorily excused black venire persons with the result that no black person has ever served on a petit jury in a case tried by that prosecutor. This burden is not [*52] met here. See State v. Simpson, 326 So. 2d 54 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976). Neil argues that under Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145, 88 S.Ct. 1444, 20 L.Ed.2d 491 (1968), and Taylor v. Louisiana, 419 U.S. 522, 95 S.Ct. 692, 42 L.Ed.2d 690 (1975), the Wheeler-Soares analysis should be applied in Florida…
  • Capers v. State, 433 So. 2d 1323 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)
    …ate, 370 So. 2d 1191 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979); § 913.08(10), Fla.Stat. (1981). Second, appellant’s claim of systematic exclusion of black jurors was without merit where three of the twelve jurors were black, one of whom was foreman. See State v. Simpson, 326 So. 2d 54 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976). Third, the court’s failure to instruct the jury on the underlying felony or felonies to the lesser-included offense of third-degree murder, upon which offense defendant was convicted, is not error. Fuller v. State, 414 So. 2d 2…

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