Emerson v. State

OPINION ON APPELLANT’S PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW

WHITE, Justice.

A jury convicted appellant of aggravated sexual assault. TEX.PENAL CODE ANN. § 22.021(a)(l)(A)(i), & (a)(2)(A)(iv). The jury assessed his punishment at ten years confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections. 1

On direct appeal, appellant claimed the trial court erred when it denied his Bat-son 2 challenge to the State’s use of its peremptory strikes. The Court of Appeals found that appellant failed to introduce sufficient proof to raise an inference that “the State used its peremptory challenges to exclude members of…