State v. Hicks

f 1 Phillip Hicks and Rashad Babbs were convicted at two separate trials for the murder of Chica Webber (first trial) and the attempted murder of Jonathan Webber (second trial). We must determine whether their defense counsel was ineffective in informing potential jurors that the case was noncapital and in not objecting to the trial court and prosecution doing the same. We must also decide whether the trial court erred in denying the defendants’ Batson1 challenge to the exclusion of the only remaining African-American juror on the venire.

J.M. Johnson, J.

¶2 We hold that under our current…