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People v. Mayfield1/2/1997
980].) When the trial court has expressly found that a prima facie case has not been established, a challenge to that finding is not rendered moot by the trial court's subsequent determination that the prosecution has supplied genuine and race-neutral explanations. ( People v. Turner (1994) 8 Cal. 4th 137, 166-167 [32 Cal. Rptr. 2d 762, 878 P.2d 521].)
To establish a prima facie case, a party must make as complete a record as the circumstances permit, must establish that the challenged prospective jurors are members of a cognizable group, and must show a "strong likelihood" that they were challenged because of their group association. ( People v. Howard (1992) 1 Cal. 4th 1132, 1154 [5 Cal. Rptr. 2d 268, 824 P.2d 1315]; People v. Wheeler, (supra) , 22 Cal. 3d 258, 280.) Here, defense counsel based the motion on the prosecutor's peremptory challenge of three Black jurors. It is undisputed that the prospective jurors were Black and as such were members of a cognizable group. To establish that the jurors were probably challenged because of their race, defense counsel observed that all three prospective jurors had middle-class backgrounds, no strong opposition to the death penalty, and no apparent reason for exclusion other than race. In addition, defense counsel observed that the prosecutor had challenged a high percentage of prospective jurors who were Black (three of five, or 60 percent), that the prosecutor's voir dire of these three Black jurors was lengthier than the voir dire of non-Black jurors, and that the prosecutor had provoked an argument with one of them, prospective juror Atkins.
"hen a trial court denies a Wheeler motion without finding a prima facie case of group bias the reviewing court considers the entire record of voir dire. [Citations.] As with other findings of fact, we examine the record for evidence to support the trial court's ruling. Because Wheeler motions call upon trial Judges' personal observations, we view their rulings with 'considerable deference' on appeal. [Citations.] If the record 'suggests grounds upon which the prosecutor might reasonably have challenged' the jurors in question, we affirm. [Citation.]" ( People v. Howard, (supra) , 1 Cal. 4th 1132, 1155.)
Here, the trial court did not explain the basis for its finding that there was no prima facie case. Rather than search the record independently for race-neutral grounds upon which the prosecutor might reasonably have challenged the jurors in question, we find it convenient to examine the reasons that the prosecutor gave in explanation for the challenge of these jurors.
1. Carla Hunter
The prosecutor explained that he exercised a peremptory challenge against Carla Hunter because her voir dire responses indicated that she might find it unusually difficult to vote for a penalty verdict of death. When asked to categorize her views according to a chart placed in the courtroom, Hunter stated that her views fell in category D, which the chart described as: "opposes or has doubts about death penalty but will not automatically vote against it in every case." When asked why she chose category D, she replied: "I have uneasy feelings about someone's life being taken away." She added that if she participated in a death verdict, "My conscience might bother me." She was asked, "Can you visualize that you would ever vote for the death penalty in this case?" SHE REPLIED: "I really don't know."
Later, during general voir dire, prospective juror Hunter answered "No" when asked if she wanted to be a juror in this case. She explained that her aversion was related to the nature of the case and how serious the charges were. She described herself as being "more nervous than other
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