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Tanner v. State5/4/2000
ewart was excluded based on race is without merit.
C.
Shirley Walton Williams...Her brother was recently involved in a case that I'm afraid the Court is familiar with, the case of United States of America versus Willie Culley, et al. She said that she has some legal knowledge and she worked as a paralegal for a criminal defense attorney.
. As previously indicated, "striking a juror because of the conviction or charge of a family member is a valid, race-neutral reason to exercise a peremptory strike." Magee, 720 So. 2d at 189. Therefore, Tanner's argument that Williams was excluded based on race is without merit.
D.
Reginald Givhan...this defendant had a brother who was convicted of the crime of armed robbery, Lafayette County. Additionally, co-counsel advises me that he has debated the merits of the death penalty on numerous occasions on the campus at Tougaloo where this juror is employed as the director of the student program. My counsel advises me that invariably the opponents to the death penalty are somehow connected to that same institution too.
. The exercise of a peremptory challenge against a prospective black juror is race neutral when the juror is related to someone who has been tried for a felony. Griffin v. State, 607 So. 2d 1197, 1203 (Miss. 1992). Accordingly, Tanner's argument that Givhan was excluded based on race is without merit.
E.
Dana Grant...his brother was convicted of a drug offense in Texas. And he gave as an example of a situation for which he would consider the death penalty as being when an individual was in his words beyond rehabilitation.
. "Striking a juror because of the conviction or charge of a family member is a valid, race-neutral reason to exercise a peremptory strike." Magee, 720 So. 2d at 189. Therefore, Tanner's argument that Grant was excluded based on race is without merit.
F.
Jimmie Judge...the venire person initially stated when he was being questioned that in a prosecution based on circumstantial evidence that he would require that evidence to rise to such a level as to remove all doubt from his mind, which of course is not the law.
. According to the State, Judge was dismissed because he said he would require a circumstantial evidence instruction to "remove all doubt whatsoever from his mind", which is not the law in Mississippi. Although Judge later answered that he could follow a reasonable doubt instruction, the record reflects at least five other places where Judge says he would need to "remove all doubt whatsoever." In Manning v. State, 735 So. 2d 323, 337 (Miss. 1999), this Court upheld the trial court's exclusion of three jurors for "their inability to follow the law and the court's instructions." Judge's answers were, at best, contradictory and indicative of his unwillingness following the law. Therefore, Tanner's argument that Judge was excluded based on race is without merit.
G.
Juanita Brown...the first question asked by this venire person was how much does this jury service pay...secondly, she initially said that she would not consider as a realistic option the death penalty to a case based entirely on circumstantial evidence.
. This Court is unable to conclude how such a question posed by a potential juror came across. It is very likely, and highly probable, that the juror put forth a demeanor of indifference to the adversarial process by first inquiring about money. We have consistently held that an individual's demeanor is an appropriate race neutral reason for a peremptory challenge. Walters, 720 So. 2d at 866. Furthermore, this Court has held
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