State v. Ford

Summary

The Supreme Court of Montana held that the defendant waived his Batson challenge alleging gender discrimination in the State's exercise of peremptory jury strikes. Because the challenge was raised only after the jury was sworn and the venire dismissed, the court affirmed the conviction and sentence without reaching the merits.

Holdings

1. A Batson challenge to allegedly discriminatory peremptory strikes must be raised before the jury is sworn and the venire is dismissed; a challenge raised afterward is untimely and waived.
2. Ford waived his Batson challenge because he waited until after the jury was impaneled and sworn and the venire was dismissed to object to the State's peremptory strikes.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Ford's objection to the State's gender-based use of peremptory challenges constituted a Batson challenge.
2. Whether Ford's Batson challenge was timely when made after the jury was impaneled and sworn and the venire was dismissed.
3. Whether the District Court properly denied Ford's motion for a new jury pool.

Disposition

affirmed