Pickett v. State

The defendant, Juvon D. Pickett, appeals a conviction and sentence for first-degree felony murder and aggravated child abuse. Pickett argues on appeal that the trial court erred in failing to suppress his statements obtained through custodial interrogation which he claims amounted to an illegal arrest, and that the trial court erred in excusing two venire persons without conducting inquiry as to the reasons for the State’s peremptory strikes. We affirm in part and reverse in part based on the following facts:

On September 5, 1998, at approximately 6:00 p.m., the two-year-old daughter of the…