Booker v. State
| Docket Number: | 2004-CT-02143-SCT Linked Case(s): 2004-KA-02143-COA ; 2004-CT-02143-SCT ; 2004-CT-02143-SCT ; 2004-KA-02143-COA |
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| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 10-23-2008 Opinion Author: Randolph, J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Capital murder - Peremptory challenges Judge(s) Concurring: Smith, C.J., Easley, Carlson and Lamar, JJ. Dissenting Author : Graves, J., with separate written opinion. Dissent Joined By : Diaz, P.J., and in Part by Waller, P.J., and Dickinson, J. Dissenting Author : Dickinson, J., with separate written opinion. Dissent Joined By : Waller and Diaz, P.JJ., and in Part by Graves, J. Procedural History: Jury Trial Nature of the Case: CRIMINAL - FELONY Writ of Certiorari: yes Appealed from Court of Appeals |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 05-20-2004 Appealed from: Jackson County Circuit Court Judge: Dale Harkey Disposition: Conviction of capital murder and sentence of life imprisonment, without the possibility of parole, in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. District Attorney: Anthony N. Lawrence, III Case Number: 2003-10,660(3) |
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| Note: | This opinion affirms the Court of Appeals's decision on 1/29/2008. View the COA opinion at: http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/Opinions/CO45873.pdf | |
| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | ANTHONY TERRELL BOOKER a/k/a ROBERT
BOOKER |
ROSS PARKER SIMONS |
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| Appellee: | STATE OF MISSISSIPPI | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: W. DANIEL HINCHCLIFF |
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Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Capital murder - Peremptory challenges |
| Summary of the Facts: | : Anthony Booker convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. He appealed, and the Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence. The Supreme Court granted certiorari. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | The Court will consider whether the circuit court and Court of Appeals erred in finding the prosecution’s peremptory strike of juror Chauncey Thompson to be permissible under Batson. To satisfy Batson, the trial court must determine whether the objecting party has met their burden to prove there has been purposeful discrimination in the exercise of peremptory challenges. The race-neutral reason proffered by the prosecutor must be a false cover for an intentional, racially discriminatory purpose. The State’s race-neutral reason for striking Thompson from the jury was that he has had a marijuana conviction, a driver’s license violation, an insurance violation, a seat belt violation in Pascagoula. Post-conviction, Booker filed a motion for a new trial and attached an affidavit from the city court clerk which stated that these charges had been dismissed by the City because the potential juror was not the person who committed said four alleged misdemeanor crimes. The circuit court, uniquely in a position to observe the demeanor and assess the credibility of the district attorney’s reply, found “no evident untruths or dishonesty at all involved on the part of the State of Mississippi.” In order to reverse, the Court must have a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed. There is no evidentiary basis in the record that the prosecutors knowingly or purposefully offered false information to the trial court to disguise their real motivation. It is more plausible that the State’s race-neutral reason was based upon an honest, albeit mistaken, belief. |
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