State v. Carr

Willie J. Carr, a black man, was indicted for drug-related offenses. In striking the jury to try his case, Carr used 15 peremptory strikes to remove 15 white persons from the jury panel. The state used two peremptory strikes to remove two black persons from the panel. The jury selected to try Carr’s case consisted of 11 black persons and one Hispanic person.

The state then moved under Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U. S. 79 (106 SC 1712, 90 LE2d 69) (1986), to require the defendant to articulate race-neutral grounds for striking all white persons from the jury. The trial court denied this motion, and…