PEOPLE v. BLOISE (2019)

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Bonnie G. Wittner, J.), rendered July 22, 2015, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of murder in the second degree and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and sentencing him to an aggregate term of 20 years to life, unanimously reversed, on the law, and the matter remanded for a new trial.

The court erred in granting the prosecution's reverse-Batson challenge to defense counsel's exercise of two peremptory challenges.  “[A]lthough appellate courts accord great deference to trial judges' step three determinations, ․ there is no record support for Supreme Court's rejection of defense counsel's race-neutral reasons for striking [two panelists].  The People simply failed to meet their burden that racial discrimination was the motivating factor” (People v. Hecker, 15 N.Y.3d 625, 661, 917 N.Y.S.2d 39, 942 N.E.2d 248 [2010];  see also People v. Hechavarria, 138 A.D.3d 543, 29 N.Y.S.3d 355 [1st Dept. 2016], appeal withdrawn 27 N.Y.3d 1133, 39 N.Y.S.3d 115, 61 N.E.3d 514 [2016] ).  Defense counsel presented facially race-neutral reasons for challenging the panelists at issue based on their having been crime victims or relatives of crime victims (see People v. Dixon, 202 A.D.2d 12, 18, 615 N.Y.S.2d 904 [2d Dept. 1994] ), and there was no evidence of disparate treatment by defense counsel of similarly situated panelists (see People v. Powell, 92 A.D.3d 610, 939 N.Y.S.2d 51 [1st Dept. 2012] ).  The record otherwise fails to support the court's finding that the race-neutral reasons given for these challenges were pretextual.

The verdict was supported by legally sufficient evidence and was not against the weight of the evidence.  Because we are ordering a new trial, we find it unnecessary to reach any other issues.