You are here: / / IN THE FACE OF BATSON CHALLENGES, THE FACTS THAT A JUROR HAD SERVED ON...

IN THE FACE OF BATSON CHALLENGES, THE FACTS THAT A JUROR HAD SERVED ON A HUNG JURY AND WORKED AT A SOUP KITCHEN AND ANOTHER JUROR WORKED FOR A COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION HELPING HIV-POSITIVE DRUG USERS WERE DEEMED VALID, RACE-NEUTRAL REASONS FOR STRIKING THE JURORS, THE CONCURRENCE NOTED THESE REASONS WERE BASED UPON QUESTIONABLE ASSUMPTIONS (FIRST DEPT)

The First Department determined the reasons provided by the prosecutor for striking jurors in the face of Batson challenges were race-neutral. The concurrence called into question the validity of striking jurors on the basis of a “questionable assumption that social service workers, who volunteer in soup kitchens and work in HIV clinics, and persons who satisfy their civic duty as jurors in trials resulting in hung juries, are unduly sympathetic to criminal defendants:”

The court properly denied defendant’s application pursuant to Batson v Kentucky (476 US 79 [1986]). … The record supports the court’s finding that the nondiscriminatory reasons provided by the prosecutor for the challenges … were not pretextual. One panelist had previously served on a hung jury, which we have found to be a valid race-neutral reason for a peremptory challenge … . An additional non-pretextual explanation for challenging this panelist was the prosecutor’s association of her service as a coordinator at a soup kitchen with possible associations with drug users, which raised a concern with the prosecutor that she might have harbored sympathy towards a defendant charged with drug offenses. Somewhat analogously, we previously have found the absence of a racial pretext for peremptory challenges premised on a panelist’s social service orientation, which might lead the panelist to sympathize with someone in the defendant’s position … . People v Teran, 2019 NY Slip Op 03532, First Dept 5-7-19

 

You might also like
THERE IS NO HEIGHTENED PLEADING REQUIREMENT FOR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES STEMMING FROM A BREACH OF AN INSURANCE CONTRACT, PLAINTIFF ALLEGED THE INSURER’S DELAY IN PAYING THE CLAIM FOR DAMAGE TO PLAINTIFF’S BUILDING, WHICH SHIFTED WHEN WORK WAS DONE ON AN ADJOINING BUILDING, RESULTED IN AN ARRAY OF CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, THE CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ASPECT OF THE COMPLAINT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (FIRST DEPT).
INSURER OF COMPANY UNDER CONTRACT TO MAINTAIN STREET LIGHTING AND TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES HAD A DUTY TO DEFEND THE CITY IN PERSONAL INJURY SUITS ALLEGING INADEQUATE LIGHTING AND MALFUNCTIONING TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES.
PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS LABOR LAW 240 (1) ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED, DESPITE PLAINTIFF’S AFFIDAVIT WHICH, IN PART, CONTRADICTED HIS DEPOSITION TESTIMONY (FIRST DEPT).
BAILEE CANNOT, PURSUANT TO THE UCC, CONTRACT AWAY LIABILITY FOR LACK OF CARE IN STORING GOODS, PURPORTED WAIVER OF SUBROGATION UNENFORCEABLE.
Criminal Impersonation—Falsely Attributed E-Mails.
Question of Fact About Property Owner’s Constructive Notice of Lead Paint/Tenant by the Entirety Could Be Vicariously Liable
LAW OFFICE FAILURE INSUFFICIENT, MOTION TO VACATE DEFAULT PROPERLY DENIED (FIRST DEPT).
DEFENDANT’S SPEEDY TRIAL MOTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED; THE CASE COULD BE PRESENTED WITHOUT THE COMPLAINANT, WHO HAD NO MEMORY OF THE INCIDENT; DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS NOT UNAVAILABLE WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE STATUTE BECAUSE A COLLEAGUE WAS IN COURT REPRESENTING DEFENDANT (FIRST DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

EVIDENCE THAT DEFENDANT SEX OFFENDER SUFFERS FROM UNSPECIFIED PARAPHILIC DISORDER... PLAINTIFF ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON HIS LABOR LAW 240 (1) CAUSE OF ACTION,...