People v. Durant

Ritter, J.,

dissents and votes to reverse the judgment and order a new trial, with the following memorandum. In affirming this conviction, the majority is sustaining a verdict rendered by a jury selected in violation of a basic tenet of Batson v Kentucky (476 US 79), which is that race cannot be the reason for a peremptory challenge. The ultimate effect of such a determination is to permit a jury selection process in which the People’s peremptory challenge to a black juror was sustained despite the trial court’s finding that the People relied upon pretext when required to state a race-neutral…