Citation Codes

Equivalent Citations

citation codes

Docket Number

S95A1150.

Attorney(S)

Robert F. Pirkle, for appellant. Dupont K. Cheney, District Attorney, Michael J. Bowers, Attorney General, Susan V. Boleyn, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Paige Reese Whitaker, Assistant Attorney General, Atlanta, for appellee.

Judges

P. Harris Hines

See more information ...

Smart Summary

Jackson v. The State, S95A1150 (Sup. Ct. Ga. Nov. 20, 1995) — Summary

Factual and Procedural Background

William Thomas "Junior" Jackson was tried and convicted of malice murder for the 1985 shooting death of a police informant. The crime occurred June 16, 1985; Jackson was arrested August 26, 1985, released on bail October 8, 1985, indicted February 18, 1986, and a bench warrant issued February 25, 1986. The case was placed on the Dead Docket March 17, 1989. Jackson fled and remained a fugitive until his arrest in Houston, Texas in May 1994. A jury returned a verdict of guilty and sentence of life imprisonment on October 24, 1994. A motion for new trial was filed November 21, 1994, denied March 9, 1995; notice of appeal filed April 5, 1995, and docketed in this Court April 14, 1995. At trial, co-defendant Joseph Quick admitted firing the fatal shot and testified that Jackson handed him the murder weapon, identified the victim, and took him to the victim's residence.

Legal Issues Presented

Whether the evidence was sufficient, viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, to support Jackson's conviction for malice murder.
Whether the trial court erred under Batson and its progeny by rejecting Jackson's race-neutral explanation for a peremptory strike (juror Linda Ward) at the wrong stage of the Batson inquiry, thereby forcing trial with an illegally constituted jury.

Arguments of the Parties

Appellant's (Jackson's) Arguments

Evidence supported conviction: testimony placed Jackson at meetings to plan the killing, identified the victim, and provided the murder weapon to Quick.
During jury selection Jackson explained he struck juror Linda Ward because she worked for her husband's bonding company and Jackson had "jumped bond," creating potential bias; this was a race-neutral reason.

Appellee's (State's) Arguments

The State challenged Jackson's heavy use of peremptory strikes against white veniremen and established a prima facie case of racial discrimination under Batson/McCollum.
The State opposed Jackson's peremptory strikes and the trial court refused to accept several of Jackson's proffered reasons (including for Ward) as race-neutral.

Table of Precedents Cited

Precedent	Rule or Principle Cited For	Application by the Court
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (99 S.C. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560) (1979)	Standard for sufficiency of the evidence review (whether a rational trier of fact could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt).	Court applied the Jackson standard and concluded the evidence was sufficient to support the malice murder conviction.
Georgia v. McCollum, 505 U.S. 42 (112 S.C. 2348, 120 L.Ed.2d 33) (1992)	Extends Batson principles to criminal defendants; prohibits purposeful race-based peremptory strikes by defendants.	Cited as authority for treating defendant's peremptory strikes under Batson analysis and for finding a prima facie case of discrimination.
Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (106 S.C. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69) (1986)	Three-step framework for evaluating race-based peremptory strikes.	Framework used to evaluate the peremptory-strike dispute; court held trial court misapplied Batson by rejecting a facially race-neutral reason at step two.
State v. Carr, 262 Ga. 893 (427 S.E.2d 273) (1993)	Georgia authority recognizing application of McCollum/Batson principles.	Referenced in support of Batson/McCollum analysis in Georgia.
Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 358-359 (111 S.C. 1859, 114 L.Ed.2d 395) (1991) (plurality)	Burden shifts to proponent of strike to articulate a race-neutral explanation once a prima facie case is shown.	Cited to describe the step-two obligation to give a race-neutral explanation.
Purkett v. Elam, ___ U.S. ___ (115 S.C. 1769, 131 L.Ed.2d 834) (1995)	Clarifies that the proponent's explanation need not be persuasive or plausible at step two; distinction between step two and step three of Batson.	Applied to hold Jackson's bonding-company explanation was facially race-neutral and that the trial court improperly evaluated persuasiveness at step two.
EEOC v. Greyhound Lines, Inc., 635 F.2d 188, 190, n.3 (3rd Cir. 1980)	Illustration that employment or interest in a bonding company is not peculiar to any race.	Quoted to support that an interest in a bonding company is not racially identifiable and thus a race-neutral basis for excuse.
Gamble v. State, 257 Ga. 325 (357 S.E.2d 792) (1987)	Trial court findings on credibility and Batson matters are entitled to great deference and not disturbed unless clearly erroneous.	Cited for deference principle; court nonetheless found the trial court's relevant finding clearly erroneous here.

Court's Reasoning and Analysis

The Court addressed two principal matters. First, reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict under Jackson v. Virginia, the Court concluded the evidence (informant status of the victim, Quick's testimony that Jackson handed him the weapon, identified the victim, and accompanied him to the residence) was sufficient to support a malice murder conviction.

Second, on the Batson/McCollum issue the Court recited the three-step Batson framework and Hernandez's articulation of the shifted burden at step two. Relying on Purkett, the Court explained that at step two a proponent need only offer a race-neutral explanation (not one that is persuasive or plausible) and that only at step three may a trial judge assess whether a offered reason is pretextual. Jackson had proffered a race-neutral reason for excusing juror Linda Ward (her employment in a bonding business and Jackson's history of jumping bond). The trial court rejected that explanation at the stage when only a facially race-neutral reason needed to be articulated, thereby impermissibly evaluating persuasiveness prematurely and effectively shifting the ultimate burden of persuasion to Jackson. The Court found that the trial court's contrary finding was clearly erroneous despite the general deference owed to trial-court credibility determinations, and that this error led to trial with an illegally constituted jury.

Holding and Implications

Judgment reversed; Jackson is entitled to a new trial.

Direct consequence: the conviction is reversed and Jackson must be retried. The opinion identifies the error as the trial court's misapplication of Batson/Purkett in rejecting a facially race-neutral explanation at the wrong stage; no broader or new precedent beyond application of existing Batson/Purkett principle is announced in the opinion. The opinion notes that all the Justices concurred.

Show full summary ...

JACKSON v. THE STATE.

HINES, Justice.

William Thomas "Junior" Jackson was convicted of malice murder in connection with the 1985 shooting death of a police informant. Prior to indictment, Jackson was released on bond. He fled the state and remained a fugitive from justice until 1994, when he was apprehended in Houston, Texas. Jackson was returned to Georgia and convicted for his part in the murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.

The crime was committed on June 16, 1985. Jackson was arrested on August 26, 1985, granted bail on October 8, 1985, and indicted on February 18, 1986. A bench warrant was issued for Jackson's arrest on February 25, 1986, and the case was placed on the Dead Docket on March 17, 1989. In May, 1994, Jackson was arrested in Houston, Texas. A verdict of guilty was returned on October 24, 1994, and sentence was entered that same day. A Motion for New Trial was filed on November 21, 1994, and denied on March 9, 1995. Notice of Appeal was filed April 5, 1995, and the case was docketed in this Court on April 14, 1995. The case was submitted for decision without oral argument on June 5, 1995.

1. Evidence was presented at trial that the victim was an informant in a drug investigation conducted by local law enforcement and the United States Army. An army lieutenant, and former undercover drug investigator, testified that the victim had arranged drug buys with, among others, Jackson. Joseph Quick was convicted of the murder in 1988. During Jackson's trial, Quick admitted that he, Quick, had fired the fatal shot. He testified that he met with Jackson and two other men to discuss killing the informant. Quick also testified that Jackson handed him the murder weapon, took him to the residence of the victim, and identified the victim as the individual to be killed. Reviewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find Jackson guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of malice murder. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 ( 99 S.C. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560) (1979).

2. During jury selection, Jackson, an African American, utilized 13 of his 14 peremptory strikes to excuse white veniremen from the jury panels. After the State challenged Jackson's use of the peremptory strikes, the trial court determined that such disparity between the number of whites and the singular African American Jackson excused established a prima facie case of racial discrimination. See Georgia v. McCollum, 505 U.S. 42 ( 112 S.C. 2348, 120 L.Ed.2d 33) (1992), extending the principles established in Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 ( 106 S.C. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69) (1986) and holding that a criminal defendant may not engage in "purposeful discrimination on the ground of race in the exercise of peremptory challenges." See State v. Carr, 262 Ga. 893 ( 427 S.E.2d 273) (1993). Jackson offered explanations for each of the first seven potential jurors he excused. Respecting five of the individuals excused, the trial court refused to accept Jackson's explanations as race-neutral and seated them on the jury with seven jurors already accepted, thereby completing the jury of twelve. Juror Linda Ward was one of the five. Jackson contends that his explanation for striking Ward was race-neutral, and that the trial court erred by seating her upon the jury. We agree.

In articulating reasons for excusing juror Ward, Jackson explained that Ward is the wife of a local bondsman and an integral employee in her husband's bonding company. The court stated that it was "not going to accept that as a racially neutral explanation." Jackson then informed the court that facts would be presented which would establish that Jackson had "jumped bond." He voiced concerns that because collecting funds from defendants who "jump bond" is part of the bonding business, Ward might harbor preconceived adverse notions about defendants.

Once the opponent of the strike establishes a prima facie case of racial discrimination, "the burden shifts to the [proponent of the strike] to articulate a race-neutral explanation for striking the jurors in question." Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 358-359 ( 111 S.C. 1859, 114 L.Ed.2d 395) (1991) (plurality opinion), citing Batson, supra at 96-98. At this step of the inquiry, the proponent of the strike is not required to enunciate "an explanation that is persuasive, or even plausible." Purkett v. Elam, ___ U.S. ___ ( 115 S.C. 1769, 131 L.Ed.2d 834) (1995), rehearing denied, ___ U.S. ___, ( 115 S.C. 2635, 132 L.Ed.2d 874) (1995). Rather,

The Supreme Court of the United States decided Purkett after Jackson was tried.

[a] neutral explanation . . . means an explanation based on something other than the race of the juror. . . . Unless a discriminatory intent is inherent in the . . . [proponent's] explanation, the reason offered will be deemed race neutral.

Hernandez, supra at 360. Furthermore, although the proponent of the strike must provide a "`clear and reasonably specific' explanation of his `legitimate reason' for exercising the challenges," Batson, supra at 98, n. 20, (citation omitted), "[w]hat is meant by a `legitimate reason' is not a reason that makes sense, but a reason that does not deny equal protection." Purkett, 115 SC at 1771.

In this instance, Jackson's explanation for striking juror Ward was based on a factor other than race. An interest in a bonding company, either fiscal or familial, "is not a characteristic that is peculiar to any race." Purkett, 115 SC at 1771, quoting EEOC v. Greyhound Lines, Inc., 635 F.2d 188, 190, n. 3 (3rd Cir. 1980). Moreover, Jackson "articulate[d] a neutral explanation related to the particular case to be tried." Batson, supra at 98. The challenged juror worked for a bonding company and Jackson himself had "jumped bond." Accordingly, the trial court erred by not accepting Jackson's explanation as race neutral.

Assuming the trial court recognized Jackson's explanation as being facially race-neutral, but refused to accept it as race-neutral because it concluded that the explanation was pretextual, the court misapplied Batson jurisprudence. Only after the opponent of a strike establishes a prima facie case of racial discrimination (step one), and the proponent thereof tenders a race-neutral explanation (step two), should the trial court evaluate the persuasiveness of the justification for exercising the strike and determine "whether the opponent of the strike has carried his burden of proving purposeful discrimination." (step three). Purkett, 115 SC at 1771, referring to the three-part test enunciated in Batson for determining racial discrimination in peremptory strikes. The United States Supreme Court in Purkett clarified the distinction between steps two and three of the Batson analysis:

At . . . stage [3], implausible or fantastic justifications may (and probably will) be found to be pretexts for purposeful discrimination. But to say that a trial judge may choose to disbelieve a silly or superstitious reason at step 3 is quite different from saying that a trial judge must terminate the inquiry at step 2 when the race-neutral reason is silly or superstitious.

Purkett, 115 SC at 1771. Essentially, the trial court prematurely evaluated the persuasiveness of Jackson's explanation, thereby impermissibly placing the ultimate burden of persuasion upon the proponent of the strike. Purkett, 115 SC at 1771. "[T]he ultimate burden of persuasion regarding racial motivation rests with, and never shifts from the opponent of the strike." Id. The trial court should have accepted Jackson's explanation as race-neutral, then proceeded to step three of the inquiry and determined whether the opponent of the strike, the State, had established that Jackson's explanation was motivated by discriminatory intent. Id.

In these matters, the findings of the trial court are entitled to great deference, and should not be disturbed unless clearly erroneous. Gamble v. State, 257 Ga. 325 ( 357 S.E.2d 792) (1987). However, here the trial court's finding was clearly erroneous, and forced Jackson to trial with an illegally constituted jury. Consequently, Jackson must be given a new trial.

Judgment reversed. All the Justices concur.