Greene v. State

Smith, Presiding Justice.

The appellant, Frederick Gerard Greene, was convicted of the malice murder of Jessie Lee Stevens. Mr. Greene was sentenced to life imprisonment and now appeals on the grounds that the State used its peremptory strikes to systematically exclude black jurors in violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U. S. 79 (106 SC 1712, 90 LE2d 69) (1986). We affirm.

In the early morning hours of December 25, 1989 the appellant approached the victim and demanded payment for some crack cocaine that the appellant had allegedly provided to the victim. After a short argument, the victim…