United States v. Leo Bishop

D.W. NELSON, Circuit Judge:

With this case, we are called upon to examine the boundaries of the Supreme Court’s decision in Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). Appellant Leo Bishop alleges that the prosecutor in his criminal trial unconstitutionally exercised a peremptory challenge to exclude a prospective black juror on the basis of her race. The prosecutor explained the challenge as based in part on the fact the black juror lived in a predominantly low-income, black neighborhood and was therefore likely to believe the police “pick on black people.” We must…