Commonwealth v. Snodgrass

SPAIN, Justice.

Tim Snodgrass, a black man, was convicted by a jury of the Garrard Circuit Court on two counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree. A concurrent sentence of three years on each count was imposed by the trial court. The Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of conviction in a 2-1 decision. We disagree with the decision of the Court of Appeals and reverse.

Snodgrass’ trial began on April 3, 1990, with a twenty-five member venire being randomly chosen. Randolph Clark was the only member of the venire selected who was black. During voir dire, the…