You are here: / / STEP ONE OF DEFENDANT’S BATSON CHALLENGE PROPERLY REJECTED AS VAGUE...

STEP ONE OF DEFENDANT’S BATSON CHALLENGE PROPERLY REJECTED AS VAGUE AND CONCLUSORY; THERE WAS NO CONCEPCION BARRIER TO AFFIRMING THE TRIAL COURT’S STEP-ONE RULING; THE REQUEST FOR THE CROSS-RACIAL IDENTIFICATION JURY INSTRUCTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, over a dissent, determined defendant’s step one Batson challenge was properly rejected as a vague and conclusory assertion that did not create a so-called Concepcion problem. The dissent argued the scenario presented a classic Concepcion problem. The court noted that the cross-racial identification jury instruction should have been given but found the error harmless:

… [D]efense counsel stated that the prospective juror in question was the “only black juror” who had not already been dismissed for cause and there was “no indication” that the juror would be “anything other than fair and impartial to both sides.” After considering defendant’s argument at step one, the court observed that defendant had failed to demonstrate a discriminatory pattern of strikes and denied his application without prompting the prosecutor to provide a race-neutral reason at step two … . Insofar as the court based its reasoning on the erroneous notion that a discriminatory pattern of strikes must be shown, that reasoning was flawed … . Nevertheless, because defendant failed to establish a prima facie case at step one, the court properly denied his application without further inquiry … .

Our dissenting colleague concludes that we have a Concepcion problem (see generally People v Concepcion, 17 NY3d 192, 197-198 [2011]), but we respectfully disagree. Whether a defendant has demonstrated a discriminatory pattern of peremptory strikes goes to the issue of whether that defendant has established a prima facie case at step one of the Batson inquiry (see generally Bolling, 79 NY2d at 324). Because the court relied on that ground in denying the application, Concepcion does not preclude us from affirming the judgment on the same ground, i.e., that defendant failed to establish a prima facie case at step one … . …

Where, as here, “a witness’s identification of the defendant is at issue, and the identifying witness and defendant appear to be of different races, a trial court is required to give, upon request, during final instructions, a jury charge on the cross-race effect” … . People v Boyd, 2020 NY Slip Op 03342, Fourth Dept 6-12-20

 

You might also like
Late Notice of Claim Properly Allowed
PURELY CONCLUSORY ALLEGATIONS IN A COMPLAINT WILL NOT SURVIVE A PRE-ANSWER MOTION TO DISMISS (FOURTH DEPT).
WAIVER OF INDICTMENT JURISDICTIONALLY DEFECTIVE; IT DID NOT INCLUDE THE APPROXIMATE TIME OF THE OFFENSE (FOURTH DEPT).
AN ACTION AGAINST A CORPORATION AND AN ACTION AGAINST INDIVIDUAL PRINCIPALS OF THE CORPORATION DO NOT HAVE AN “IDENTITY OF PARTIES” WHICH WOULD ALLOW DISMISSAL OF ONE OF THE COMPLAINTS; TEXT MESSAGES DO NOT SUPPORT DISMISSAL OF A COMPLAINT BASED ON “DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE;” THE COMPLAINT STATED A CAUSE OF ACTION FOR CONVERSION; THE COMPLAINT DID NOT STATE A CAUSE OF ACTION FOR FRAUD (FOURTH DEPT). ​
WILL THAT CANNOT BE FOUND IS PRESUMED REVOKED, HERE PETITIONER DID NOT REBUT THE PRESUMPTION OF REVOCATION, CRITERIA EXPLAINED (FOURTH DEPT).
SNOW REMOVAL CONTRACTOR’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED, CONTRACTOR DID NOT LAUNCH AN INSTRUMENT OF HARM.
A WHEEL CAME OFF DEFENDANT’S TRUCK CAUSING A FREAK ACCIDENT INVOLVING TWO OTHER VEHICLES RESULTING IN THE DEATH OF A DRIVER; THE CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE CONVICTION WAS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE; AT MOST, DEFENDANT FAILED TO PERCEIVE THE RISK CREATED BY A NOISY WHEEL (FOURTH DEPT).
JUROR NEVER STATED SHE COULD PUT ASIDE HER BIAS IN FAVOR OF POLICE OFFICERS, FOR CAUSE CHALLENGE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED.

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

IT MAY HAVE BEEN ERROR TO ALLOW THE VICTIM TO TESTIFY ACCOMPANIED BY A DOG,... EXCULPATORY (BRADY) EVIDENCE IN THE COMPLAINANT’S MENTAL HEALTH RECORDS...