San Pablo man was found guilty of murder by white jury after blacks were removed
By David G. Savage
Los Angeles Times
Washington, DC -- Supreme Court justices said during arguments Monday that they were inclined to make it harder for California prosecutors to remove blacks and Latinos from juries without explaining their reasons for doing so.
At issue was how to enforce a two-decade-old rule that forbids the use of race as a reason for excluding people from a jury.
While most states tell judges they should question prosecutors whenever there is a hint of racial bias in the selection of jurors, California courts say prosecutors should be questioned only when there is a "strong likelihood" of racial bias.
A lawyer for a convicted child murderer from Contra Costa County told the justices that California's rule allows racial bias to go unchallenged and undetected.
"Here, the prosecutor struck all three black jurors and left a black defendant to be tried by a nearly all-white jury," said attorney Stephen Bedrick of Oakland.
The defense lawyer had complained, saying there was no apparent reason to remove one of the black women "other than her racial identity."
But the trial judge rejected the complaint and did not require the prosecutor to explain his reasons.
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