Knight v. State

The appellant, Willie C. Knight, was convicted of assault in the second degree, a violation of § 13A-6-21, Code of Alabama 1975. He was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. The sentence was split — with the appellant to serve three years in prison followed by five years on formal probation.

I

The appellant argues that the state violated the principles of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712,90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986), when it struck the one black member of the jury venire. Batson held that black jury veniremembers could not be struck from a black defendant's jury because of their race.…