People v. Madrid.

2023 CO 12. No. 21SC505. Jury Selection—Racial Discrimination—Batson v. Kentucky—Pretext—Remand Hearings.

March 27, 2023

The Supreme Court held that when a party has been given an adequate opportunity to present race-neutral justifications for a challenged peremptory strike under the second step of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), that party is later barred from introducing new race-neutral justifications on remand. To reach this conclusion, the Court relied on Miller-El v. Dretke, 545 U.S. 231, 252 (2005), which explained that “a prosecutor simply has got to state his reasons as best he can and stand or fall on the plausibility of the reasons he gives.” After determining that the prosecution offered new justifications for the strike on remand, beyond the reasons the prosecution originally stated at trial, the Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals and remanded for a new trial.