United States v. Taylor

SYKES, Circuit Judge.

This case returns to us again on the issue of the prosecutor’s use of a peremptory strike against an African-American member of the jury pool. Styles Taylor and Keon Thomas, both African-American, were convicted of robbing and murdering the owner of a gun store in Hammond, Indiana. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c) & (j), 1951. The victim was white. During jury selection, the defendants challenged the government’s use of peremptory strikes against several African-American jurors. See Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). The district court denied…