People v. Johnson.
2024 CO 35. No. 22SC852. Jury Selection—Peremptory Challenge—Batson—Clear Error—Examination of Jurors—Particular Groups, Inclusion or Exclusion—Race.
June 3, 2024
The Supreme Court concluded that the prosecutor’s explanation that a peremptory challenge against a Black potential juror who said law enforcement had been disrespectful to her or those close to her based on race was a facially race-neutral reason sufficient to satisfy step 2 of the framework in Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986). But because the trial court made no findings to indicate under step 3 that it had considered all the pertinent circumstances in concluding that the strike was not made with a discriminatory purpose, the record was insufficient for complete appellate review of Johnson’s Batson claim.
The Court also held that courts should use a substantial-motivating-factor approach to resolve Batson challenges when the striking party offers both race-based and race-neutral reasons. Because the court of appeals applied a per se approach, the Court reversed the division’s judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings.
The full opinion is available at https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/Supreme_Court/Opinions/2022/22SC852.pdf.