First Five Black Women Excused For Jury Selection By Prosecutor; Judgment Of Death For Black Defendant.

During jury selection in a robbery and murder case against a black man, the prosecutor used peremptory strikes to remove the first five black women in the jury box for jury selection. Ultimately the jury included one black woman. The California Supreme Court affirmed a judgment of death. Justice Werdegar and Justice Liu dissented. Justice Liu stated that “[t]his court has put itself on the wrong side of a split among federal and state courts on how to treat a trial court’s denial of a defendant’s Batson motion when the trial court has not made clear on the record that it considered all relevant circumstances bearing on the issue of purposeful discrimination in jury selection.” People v. Williams  (Cal. Sup. Ct.; May 6, 2013) 56 Cal.4th 630.