United States Ninth Circuit

The district court's denial of a habeas corpus petition challenging a conviction and capital sentence for murder and robbery, based on a violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), is reversed, where: 1) after each of three Batson challenges, the trial court conducted an ex parte, in camera procedure to hear and consider the prosecutor’s purported reasons for using peremptory challenges to excuse each black or Hispanic prospective juror who was available for challenge; and 2) the trial court's exclusion of petitioner and his counsel during Batson steps two and three, coupled with the loss of juror questionnaires, constituted prejudicial error that likely prevented petitioner from showing that the prosecution utilized its peremptory challenges in a racially discriminatory manner.

Appellate Information

• Decided 09/13/2013
• Published 09/13/2013

Judges

• REINHARDT

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel