Defendant appealed from a judgment of conviction after a jury convicted him of murder, arguing he was denied the right to a jury of his peers
During the voir dire, after an African American male juror was found acceptable to the court and seated in the jury box, the prosecutor performed acriminal background check on the juror and discovered someone with the same name had an outstanding municipal warrant. Without explanation to or from the juror, the trial judge granted the State's motion to remove the juror for cause so he could be arrested outside the presence of other jurors. Defendant argued the exclusion of the juror was racially motivated
The court reverses because the judge did not question the juror himself to ascertain the accuracy of the State's representation and the judge should have addressed defendant's objection under a Batson/Gilmore analysis.