People v. Boyette

I dissent.

During jury selection in this death penalty case, the defense objected to the prosecution’s exercise of peremptory challenges against four African-American women, asserting that the challenges were purposefully discriminatory on the basis of the prospective jurors’ race and gender. The trial court said it did not think a prima facie case had been shown and asked the prosecutor if she wanted to explain her challenges. The prosecutor responded she had challenged these prospective jurors because she thought they could not vote for the death penalty. The trial court then ruled on the…