Broom v. Denney

SCHREIER, District Judge.

A Missouri jury convicted Mark E. Broom of first-degree murder, first-degree assault, and two counts of armed criminal action. After the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed Broom’s convictions on direct appeal and his application for state post-conviction relief was denied, Broom filed a federal petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. In his petition, Broom, a black man, alleged that the prosecution exercised peremptory challenges based on race during jury selection, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The…