Perry v. State
| Docket Number: | 2005-KA-00541-COA Linked Case(s): 2005-CT-00541-SCT ; 2005-KA-00541-COA |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 05-30-2006 Opinion Author: Ishee, J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Sale of cocaine - Peremptory challenges Judge(s) Concurring: Lee and Myers, P.JJ., Chandler, Griffis and Barnes, JJ. Dissenting Author : Irving, J. Dissent Joined By : King, C.J., Southwick and Roberts, JJ. Procedural History: Jury Trial Nature of the Case: CRIMINAL - FELONY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 03-04-2005 Appealed from: Panola County Circuit Court Judge: Andrew C. Baker Disposition: CONVICTED OF SALE OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE AND SENTENCED TO TWELVE YEARS IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MDOC WITH TEN YEARS TO SERVE AND TWO YEARS SUSPENDED PENDING FUTURE GOOD BEHAVIOR. District Attorney: JOHN W. CHAMPION Case Number: CR2004-141-B-P2 |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | Robert Lee Perry |
DAVID L. WALKER |
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| Appellee: | State of Mississippi | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: SCOTT STUART |
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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: | Sale of cocaine - Peremptory challenges |
| Summary of the Facts: | Robert Perry was convicted of sale of a controlled substance, cocaine, and sentenced to serve twelve years. He appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | During the jury selection process, Perry exercised all of his peremptory strikes on white males. The assistant district attorney objected, asserting that Perry was intentionally discriminating on the basis of race and gender. When asked to state his race/gender neutral reasons for exercising the peremptory strikes on these jurors, Perry presented the following: juror McGregor was a security guard, thus pro-law enforcement, had been a crime victim, had a family member that had been a victim of narcotics, and had given a statement to law enforcement; juror Chapman knew all of the narcotics agents involved in the case, had been a crime victim, and was a park ranger and emergency medical technician; juror Davis was a crime victim; juror Waller had been on a jury before and found the defendant guilty, had been a crime victim, and watches Law and Order; juror Phillips was a military veteran and maintenance supervisor; and juror Keeton was a military veteran, in addition to the fact that Perry was reluctant to accept any prospective juror that the assistant district attorney liked. The court found all of the asserted reasons to be non-discriminatory except for those pertaining to jurors Davis, Phillips, and Keeton. Perry now argues that the court erred by reinstating these jurors. Five indicia which may indicate pretext for Batson purposes in a party’s exercise of a peremptory strike include disparate treatment, that is, the presence of unchallenged jurors of the opposite race or gender who share the characteristic given as the basis for the challenge, the failure to voir dire as to the characteristic cited, the characteristic cited is unrelated to the facts of the case, lack of record support for the stated reason, and group based traits. Here, there was no clear error in the judge’s Batson determinations. The judge’s decisions in the case fit well within the Batson framework. |
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