Sumlin v. State

Darrell Sumlin was convicted for robbery in the first degree and was sentenced to life imprisonment as a habitual felony offender. On this appeal from that conviction, he contends that the prosecutor exercised her peremptory strikes in a racially discriminatory manner in violation of Batson v. Kentucky,476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986).

The jury venire included seven black members. One black veniremember was excluded for cause, leaving three black males and three black females on the venire. The prosecutor used three of her peremptory strikes to remove the three black males.…