State v. Wright

STROUD, Judge.

Defendant was convicted by a jury of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting'serious injury and first degree burglary. Defendant appeals. The dispositive question before this Court is whether the trial court erred by finding the State had not engaged in purposeful discrimination when the State did not provide a race-neutral explanation for each African-American whom it had removed from the jury by peremptory challenge. For the following reasons, we grant a new trial.

I. Background

The State’s evidence tended to show the following: On 17 November 2004, Ruben…