Stanley v. State

ADKINS, Judge.

In this opinion we shall consider the cases of petitioner Michael Wardell Stanley (Stanley) and of appellant Clarence Haywood Trice a/k/a Benjamin Edward Chester (Trice). Both are members of the black race. Each was convicted at trial by substantially or totally white juries after most or all potential jurors who were black were excluded from jury service by peremptory challenges used by a State prosecutor. The two cases thus present a common question: did the procedures used by the State violate the prohibition against racially discriminatory jury selection explained in Batson…