Court Rules No Bias in Exclusion of Black Juror

A prosecutor is not guilty of racial bias for excluding the only African-American from a jury deliberating a criminal case involving a black man, a state appellate court in San Diego ruled Thursday.

Ruling in the case of an African-American man arrested in National City on cocaine charges, the 4th District Court of Appeal said removing one juror simply is not enough to show a pattern of systematic prejudice that would violate the constitutional right to a jury of one’s peers.

Prosecutors said the ruling struck a sensible balance between the law’s desire for theoretical consistency and lawyers’ wish for workable courtroom rules. But the decision seemingly conflicts with a California Supreme Court opinion issued just five weeks ago, meaning the issue is probably far from settled.

The case is one of several now working their way up state and federal appellate ladders in the wake of two landmark rulings, one in 1978 from the California Supreme Court and another in 1986 from the U.S. Supreme Court that banned racial bias in jury selection.

The controversy involves “peremptory” strikes that lawyers use to excuse someone from a jury without having to explain why. If the peremptory removals reveal a pattern of prejudice, the usual result is a new trial.

The courts, however, have struggled to set a precise definition on how many removals are enough to show a systematic pattern of bias.

On Oct. 31, the state Supreme Court said in the footnote of a case that even one removal might be enough when the issue is racial bias. Federal appeals courts in Denver in 1987 and in St. Louis in 1989 said the same thing.

The San Diego court reached a different decision.

The case grew out of the Dec. 4, 1989, arrest of a black man, Carrea Christopher, in a National City motel. He was charged with possessing rock cocaine.

When trial began Feb. 2, 1990, in San Diego Superior Court, the prosecutor excused Sandra White, the only black in the jury pool.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Thomas J. Whelan ruled that he saw no racial bias when she was removed. Christopher was convicted Feb. 7 of possessing cocaine and sentenced Aug. 24, 1990, to six months jail and three years probation.