Pitchford v. Cain · ¶10

During jury selection at Pitchford's trial in Mississippi state court, the prosecutor used peremptory strikes against four of the five black potential jurors. In response, Pitchford's counsel raised a Batson objection. 1 App. 167–168. The trial court asked the prosecutor for race-neutral reasons for striking each of the four black potential jurors. According to the prosecutor, one had returned 15 minutes late to court, two others had brothers convicted of violent offenses, and the fourth, like Pitchford, was young, unmarried, and a father. Id., at 169–170. As the prosecutor offered reasons for striking each of the jurors, the trial court declared each to be race neutral. Upon hearing the prosecutor's reason for the last strike, the trial court stated that “[t]he Court finds that to be race neutral as well,” and pivoted immediately to the defense's peremptory strikes. Id., at 170. At…

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