State v. Kempker

BLACKMAR, Judge.

The defendant was convicted of two counts of passing bad checks in violation of § 570.120, RSMo 1986. The Court of Appeals, Western District, reversed and remanded for new trial concluding that the state had failed to counter the defendant’s properly raised claims of violation of the doctrine of Powers v. Ohio, — U.S.-, 111 S.Ct. 1364, 113 L.Ed.2d 411 (1991), in the exclusion of African-American jurors. We granted transfer because of the importance of issues touching Powers and Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). We conclude that the trial…