SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Judges must thoroughly evaluate prosecutors’ reasons for excluding prospective jurors to ensure the decisions weren’t motivated by racial bias, the California Supreme Court said in overturning three convictions in a shooting.
The high court in a ruling on Thursday stressed that courts have “ultimate responsibility” to protect the integrity of jury selection and scrutinize decisions to remove prospective jurors.
“It is not only litigants who are harmed when the right to trial by impartial jury is abridged,” Associate Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuellar wrote. “Taints of discriminatory bias in jury selection - actual or perceived - erode confidence in the adjudicative process, undermining the public’s trust in courts.”
The unanimous ruling overturned three Kern County convictions on the grounds that a trial judge wrongly rejected the defendants’ claim that prosecutors excused a prospective juror because she was Hispanic.
All three defendants were Hispanic. Two - Rene Gutierrez and Ramiro Enriquez - were convicted of attempted murder in what prosecutors said was a 2011 gang-related shooting. The third defendant - Gabriel Ramos - was found guilty of active participation in a criminal street gang.
Associate Justice Goodwin Liu said the ruling marked the first time in 16 years that the state Supreme Court had found a violation of rules aimed at preventing discrimination during jury selection.
Kern County Chief Deputy District Attorney Mark Pafford said the office had not yet decided whether to retry the defendants. He said he had no comment on the court’s findings about the decision to strike the Hispanic juror.
Prosecutors on the case had bumped 10 potential Hispanic jurors - among 16 people in total they had excused from the jury - when the defendants challenged their motivations.
The state Supreme Court said the trial court judge failed to adequately probe prosecutors’ explanation for dismissing one of those potential Hispanic jurors. That was sufficient to deny the defendants the right to a fair trial, the court said.
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