Hawkins v. State

127 Nev. 575 (2011) (Nev. 2011) · Supreme Court of Nevada · August 4, 2011 · No. No. 54850

Summary

The Nevada Supreme Court considered whether the district court improperly rejected Collie Hawkins’s Batson challenge to the State’s peremptory strikes of three jurors. The court held that Hawkins failed to develop or preserve a meaningful showing that the State’s race-neutral explanations were pretextual and affirmed the judgment of conviction.

Holdings

  1. The district court did not err in rejecting Hawkins's Batson challenges because the State provided facially race-neutral explanations, and Hawkins failed to develop or present a specific pretext argument in the district court or on appeal.
  2. The prosecutor's explanation did not reflect an inherent intent to discriminate, and the district court could accept it as race-neutral when Hawkins did not challenge it as pretextual.

Questions Presented

  1. Whether the district court erred in rejecting Hawkins's Batson challenges to the State's peremptory strikes of three jurors.
  2. Whether the State's explanation for striking a professor was race-neutral and whether Hawkins preserved and sufficiently developed a claim that the explanation was pretextual.

Disposition

affirmed

Cases Cited (11)

  • Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S. Ct. 1712, 90 L. Ed. 2d 69 (1986)(applied)
  • Kaczmarek v. State, 120 Nev. 314, 333-34, 91 P.3d 16, 29-30 (2004)(applied)
  • Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 360, 111 S. Ct. 1859, 114 L. Ed. 2d 395 (1991)(followed)
  • Diomampo v. State, 124 Nev. 414, 422-23, 185 P.3d 1031, 1036-37 (2008)(followed)
  • Felkner v. Jackson, 562 U.S. ___, 131 S. Ct. 1305, 179 L. Ed. 2d 374 (2011)(followed)
  • Snyder v. Louisiana, 552 U.S. 472, 477, 128 S. Ct. 1203, 170 L. Ed. 2d 175 (2008)(followed)
  • Purkett v. Elem, 514 U.S. 765, 767-68, 115 S. Ct. 1769, 131 L. Ed. 2d 834 (1995)(followed)
  • Ford v. State, 122 Nev. 398, 404-05, 132 P.3d 574, 578-79 (2006)(followed)
  • Miller-El v. Dretke, 545 U.S. 231, 240-65, 125 S. Ct. 2317, 162 L. Ed. 2d 196 (2005)(followed)
  • United States v. Roberts, 163 F.3d 998 (7th Cir. 1998)(persuasive)

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