From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

McCarter v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District
Aug 1, 2001
791 So. 2d 557 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2001)

Summary

holding that trial court erred in finding reason to be valid where it was refuted by transcript of voir dire

Summary of this case from Dorsey v. State

Opinion

Case No. 2D99-3001

Opinion filed August 1, 2001.

Appeal from the Circuit Court for Pinellas County; Richard A. Luce, Judge.

James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, and Richard J. Sanders, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.

Joseph McCarter, pro se.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Ronald Napolitano, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.


Joseph McCarter appeals a judgment convicting him of robbery. Because the State struck the only African-American from the venire panel and, upon objection, was unable to provide a race-neutral reason supported by the record, we reverse.

During jury selection in Mr. McCarter's trial, the State sought a peremptory strike of juror number 7. Counsel for Mr. McCarter indicated that juror number 7 was the only African-American in the venire panel and sought a race-neutral explanation for the strike. In response, the State asserted that this juror's answer to a particular question indicated that she believed a real trial in the courtroom would not be different than trials she had observed on television. The trial judge accepted this as a race-neutral explanation, and defense counsel again objected to the strike. When a complete panel was selected, defense counsel's objection to the striking of juror number 7 was again noted.

Defense counsel properly preserved his objection to the State's strike of this juror. See Givens v. State, 619 So.2d 500 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993). The State has conceded on appeal that the transcript of the voir dire examination of the juror refutes the State's purported race-neutral explanation. That is, the juror indicated during voir dire that she understood that a real trial would differ from those trials depicted on television. As a result, the trial court erred in sustaining the peremptory strike of this juror without a race-neutral explanation, supported by the record. See Nunez v. State, 664 So.2d 1109 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995); Reeves v. State, 632 So.2d 702 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994).

The judgment is reversed, and the case remanded for a new trial.

PARKER, A.C.J., and ALTENBERND and CASANUEVA, JJ., Concur.


Summaries of

McCarter v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District
Aug 1, 2001
791 So. 2d 557 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2001)

holding that trial court erred in finding reason to be valid where it was refuted by transcript of voir dire

Summary of this case from Dorsey v. State
Case details for

McCarter v. State

Case Details

Full title:JOSEPH McCARTER, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District

Date published: Aug 1, 2001

Citations

791 So. 2d 557 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2001)

Citing Cases

Estate of Youngblood v. Halifax Convalescent Center, Ltd.

Accordingly, this case must be reversed for a new trial. Williams v. State, 574 So.2d 136 (Fla. 1991); State…

Dorsey v. State

When the appellate court can discern that the actual responses differ from what was represented to and…