Hassan v. Texas

Appellant Adbihakim Hassan was tried for a misdemeanor traffic offense before a six-person jury. At jury selection, the State and Appellant were each allocated three peremptory strikes. The venire consisted of fourteen people: five African-Americans, two Asians, three Caucasians, and four Hispanics. The State used its only three peremptory challenges to strike two African-Americans and an Asian. The resulting six-person jury consisted of two African-Americans, one Asian, two Hispanics, and one Caucasian. Defense counsel objected that the State's strikes were racially motivated in violation of "Batson v. Kentucky." Appellant was convicted. He filed a motion for new trial, which included a Batson allegation, but that motion was denied. In the motion, appellant faulted the State for striking two African-American venire members when there were only five on the panel. He also claimed that the strike of one particular juror could not be justified because "[m]ost of the jurors in the panel rated police less than 8 on a 1-10 scale including many non-black jurors that the State did not strike." There was no hearing on the motion for new trial. The court of appeals held that appellant had established a prima facie case of racial discrimination under "Batson v. Kentucky." The Court of Criminal Appeals disagreed with the appellate court's prima facie ruling: "because appellant failed to demonstrate a prima facie case, the State was not required to advance race-neutral reasons for its strikes. The court of appeals erred in abating this case for a retrospective Batson hearing and erred in finding a Batson violation." The case was remanded to address additional issues Appellant raised on appeal. View "Hassan v. Texas" on Justia Law