People v. Bludson

Judgment affirmed. Memorandum: Supreme Court properly rejected defendant’s Batson claim. Defendant failed to present a prima facie case by establishing the existence of “facts and other relevant circumstances sufficient to raise an inference that the prosecution exercised its peremptory challenges to exclude potential jurors because of their race” (People v Childress, 81 NY2d 263, 266; see also, People v Cousin, 272 AD2d 477, 478, lv denied 95 NY2d 851), and thus the burden never shifted to the prosecutor to provide a race-neutral reason for the challenge (see, People v Childress, supra, at…