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THE JUDGE FAILED TO FOLLOW THE THREE-STEP PROCEDURE FOR ASSESSING A BATSON CHALLENGE; THE DEFENDANT WAS NOT GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO ARGUE THAT THE PEOPLE’S PURPORTED RACE-NEUTRAL REASONS FOR ELIMINATING A PROSPECTIVE HISPANIC JUROR WERE PRETEXTUAL; NEW TRIAL ORDERED (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing defendant’s conviction, determined the judge did not follow the established three-step procedure for assessing defendant’s Batson challenge to the People’s peremptory challenge to an Hispanic prospective juror:

The defendant challenged the People’s use of a peremptory challenge pursuant to Batson v Kentucky (476 US 79) with respect to the challenge to strike the third Hispanic prospective juror. The defendant contended that the People’s prior use of a peremptory challenge to a Hispanic prospective juror in the first round of jury selection and the People’s challenges to the two prospective Hispanic jurors in the second round were racially motivated. The defendant pointed out that the People moved to strike the only three Hispanic prospective jurors. In response to the defendant’s challenge, the County Court required the defendant to articulate an additional reason as to why the defendant contended that the People’s exercise of its peremptory challenge was racially motivated. Defense counsel essentially reiterated his contentions. Thereafter, following the People’s articulation of a race-neutral reason for their exercise of each of the three challenges, the court denied the defendant’s Batson challenge on the ground that the defendant did not carry his prima facie burden. The court failed to reach step three of Batson wherein the burden shifts to the defendant to argue a basis as to why the reasons proffered by the People were pretextual. * * *

… [T]he defendant satisfied step one of Batson … . Accordingly, at that point, the burden shifted to the People to proffer race-neutral explanations for exercising their peremptory challenges to eliminate those prospective jurors … . Thereafter, the court failed to allow the defendant to challenge whether the reasons proffered, although facially neutral, were pretextual and not genuine reasons for the challenges … . People v Williams, 2026 NY Slip Op 04440, Second Dept 7-15-26

Practice Point: Consult this decision for a clear explanation of the three-step procedure for assessing a Batson challenge to the People’s exercise of a peremptory challenge.​

 

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