Jackson v. Commonwealth

Opinion

BENTON, J.

In this appeal, Kenneth Wayne Jackson contends that the Commonwealth exercised its peremptory challenges to exclude blacks from the circuit court jury and that the trial court erred in overruling his motion to dismiss the jury. For the reasons which follow, we reverse the convictions and remand the case for a new trial.

Jackson was tried by jury and convicted of both armed robbery of a store clerk and use of a firearm in the commission of the robbery. During the voir dire examination, the judge asked twenty members of the jury panel several questions regarding their abilities…