Bryant v. Speckard

DECISION AND ORDER

CURTIN, District Judge.

Allen Bryant, who is imprisoned at Grove-land Correctional Facility in Sonyea, New York, petitions for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. On October 25, 1983, Mr. Bryant, an African-American, was convicted, in Erie County Court, of first-degree rape. He challenges his conviction on the grounds that at the time of jury selection, the prosecutor discriminated on the basis of race in exercising a peremptory challenge to excuse the only black prospective juror from service.

In this case, the question of whether the prosecutor’s use of a…