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Bland v. State5/16/2000
mber 17, 1996, Humberto Martinez picked up Appellant from the Econo-Lodge and drove him to the home of James Baker in Oklahoma City. Appellant was subsequently located by the authorities at Baker's home and arrested on November 20, 1996. Initially arrested for the unauthorized use of the victim's pickup, Appellant was taken to the Tillman County Sheriff's office where he confessed to killing the victim and hiding his body. Appellant took officers to the rural area where he had left the body. The body was badly decomposed. However, an autopsy was subsequently performed and the cause of death was found to be a bullet wound to the back of the head.
Appellant admitted to shooting the victim, but claimed he did not intend to kill him. Appellant stated he had borrowed the victim's Cadillac and while it was in his possession, the car had a flat tire . Appellant changed the tire but in so doing, damaged the hubcap. When he returned the car to the victim and explained the situation, Appellant said the victim became very angry. Appellant said the victim's anger escalated to the point where he took a swing at Appellant. Appellant said he was not sure if the victim actually struck him. He said he thought he may have kicked the victim. Both men fell to the floor. Appellant said that a gun he had been carrying, wrapped up in a pair of coveralls, fell to the ground. Appellant said he picked up the gun and fired one shot, hitting the victim in the back of the head. Appellant said he attempted to clean up the garage area where the altercation had taken place. He then took the victim's body to a field and covered it with a pile of logs.
JURY SELECTION
In his first assignment of error, Appellant contends the State's reasons for excusing venirepersons Flores and Aldape-say from the jury panel were not race-neutral but were pretextual, and the excusal of the prospective jurors violated the Equal Protection Clause under Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 98, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 1724, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). The record reflects the trial court overruled Appellant's objections to the exclusion of the prospective jurors. In so ruling, the court noted that Appellant was not of a minority race.
In Turrentine v. State, 965 P.2d 955, 964 (Okl.Cr.1998), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1057, 119 S.Ct. 624, 142 L.Ed.2d 562 (1998) we stated:
In Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 98, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986), the Supreme Court held that a defendant can raise an equal protection challenge to the use of peremptory challenges at his own trial by showing that the prosecutor used the challenges for the purpose of excluding members of the defendant's own race from the jury panel. Id., 476 U.S. at 96, 106 S.Ct. at 1723-24, 90 L.Ed.2d at 87.
Batson established a three (3) part analysis: 1) the defendant must make a prima facie showing that the prosecutor has exercised peremptory challenges on the basis of race; 2) after the requisite showing has been made, the burden shifts to the prosecutor to articulate a race neutral explanation related to the case for striking the juror in question; 3) the trial court must determine whether the defendant has carried his burden of proving purposeful discrimination. The Court noted the race neutral explanation by the prosecutor need not rise to the level justifying excusal for cause, but it must be a "clear and reasonably specific" explanation of his "legitimate reasons" for exercising the challenges. Id., 476 U.S. at 98 n. 20, 106 S.Ct. 1712. The trial court's findings as to discriminatory intent are entitled to great deference. Id., 476 U.S. at 98 n. 21, 106 S.Ct. 1712; Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 111 S.Ct. 1859, 1868-69, 114 L.Ed.2d 395 (
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