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BUSH v. STATE12/1/1995
the inquiry, the issue is facial validity of the prosecutor's explanation, and unless a discriminatory intent is inherent in the explanation, the reason offered will be deemed neutral. Id., at 767-68, 115 S.Ct. at 1771. When the defendant challenges as pretextual the prosecutor's explanations as to a particular venireperson, the inquiry becomes factual in nature and moves to step three. At this step the trial court must resolve the factual dispute, and whether the prosecutor intended to discriminate is a question of fact. Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 364-65, 111 S.Ct. 1859, 1868-69, 114 L.Ed.2d 395 (1991). In the third step, the trial court must determine whether the defendant has met his burden of proving purposeful discrimination. At this stage, the trial court must consider the persuasiveness of the explanations, and it is also at this stage that "implausible or fantastic justifications may (and probably will) be found to be pretexts for purposeful discrimination." Purket, 514 U.S. at 768, 115 S.Ct. at 1771.
Upon the conclusion of the state's explanation for its peremptory strikes, the trial court overruled the appellant's motion, stating, "I'm convinced that this jury was selected in a non-discriminatory manner." At that time, the appellant offered nothing to rebut the state's reasons given for the strikes or to
show that the strikes were pretextual, but stated that he was at a disadvantage in evaluating the state's explanations because he did not have access to the state's files on the prospective jurors. The trial court accepted the explanations given by the state at that time, but ordered the prosecution to deliver its files on the prospective jurors to the appellant, which included information from the Alabama crime information computer and pretrial questionnaires that had been filled out by the prospective jurors. It stated that it would afford the appellant an opportunity at a later time to present evidence to rebut the state's explanations and that that action would relate back as if done before the jury was sworn.
Following the trial, the trial court conducted a hearing, at which the appellant was afforded an opportunity to present evidence to rebut the state's explanations. At this hearing, the appellant attempted to rebut the prosecutor's explanation of only one venireperson, E.H., number 84. The appellant introduced into evidence the questionnaires of all the venirepersons and argued that some white venirepersons whose answers were as equivocal or more equivocal on the death penalty issue than E.H.'s had not been struck, thus, he argued, constituting disparate treatment. After the hearing, the trial court entered a formal order, making findings of fact concerning the state's peremptory strikes and again overruling the appellant's motion to quash.
We will not reverse a trial court's Batson ruling unless it is clearly erroneous. Ex parte Lynn, 543 So.2d 709 (Ala. 1988), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 945, 110 S.Ct. 351, 107 L.Ed.2d 338 (1989); Ex parte Branch, 526 So.2d 609 (Ala. 1987); Mitchell v. State, 579 So.2d 45 (Ala. Cr. App. 1991), cert. denied, 596 So.2d 954 (Ala. 1992). The trial court is in a better position to rule on the prosecutor's reasons than this court, and great deference should be given to its findings. Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. at 364-66, 111 S.Ct. at 1869.
The trial court, in its order denying the Batson motion, made findings as to the reasons given by the state for its peremptory strikes. Its findings are as follows:
"Venireman Number 4 — White Female — Struck due to answer on voir dire — 'iffy' as to whether capital punishment should be imposed — probably would vote for life without parole.
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