Baton Rouge Discrimination Lawyer, Louisiana

... the first step to be so onerous that a defendant would have to persuade the judge—on the basis of all the facts, some of which are impossible for the defendant to know with certainty—that the challenge was more likely than not the product of purposeful discrimination." Johnson v ...

... The Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution prohibits purposeful discrimination on the basis of race in the exercise of peremptory challenges. ... Third, the court must then determine whether the defendant has established purposeful discrimination. ...

... Defendant's convictions and sentences were affirmed in part and the matter was remanded for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether defendant met his burden of proving purposeful discrimination in the State's use of peremptory challenges against prospective male jurors ...