Guthrie v. State

Colon L. Guthrie, the appellant, was indicted and convicted for the capital robbery-murder of Randal Pepper, in violation of Ala. Code 1975, § 13A-5-40(a)(2). Sentence was fixed at death by electrocution. That conviction and sentence are reversed because of a violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79,106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986), and Ex parte Branch,526 So.2d 609 (Ala. 1987).

I

Batson v. Kentucky was decided on April 30, 1986. It held that "the Equal Protection Clause forbids the prosecutor to challenge potential jurors solely on account of their race or on the assumption that black…