Conviction Reversed Because Prosecutor Was Discriminatory In Jury Selection.

A federal appellate court reversed the California state court murder conviction of a 17- year-old Hispanic boy, after concluding the prosecutor excused too many Hispanic jurors.  Each side could excuse 20 potential jurors from the jury.  Here, the prosecutor excused 12, and 7 of those 12 were Hispanic. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded the prosecutor engaged in purposeful discrimination, and instructed the district court to grant the defendant’s application for a writ of habeas corpus. (Castellanos v. Larry Small, Warden (Ninth Cir.; September 9, 2014) 766 F.3d 1137.)