State v. Varner

KAROHL, Chief Judge.

Defendant appeals a conviction of the class C felony of stealing, a violation of § 570.030.3 RSMo 1986. This case was previously tried twice. The first resulted in a mistrial when the jury was unable to reach a verdict, the second was a dismissal by motion of both parties. We now consider the appeal after a remand for an eviden-tiary hearing relating to a Batson claim. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

On July 2, 1986, defendant, Thomas Var-ner, was shopping at a Famous Barr in the City of St. Louis. James Mueller, a security guard recognized defendant and noticed…