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July 11, 2012
HAMPTON — A murder case ended in a mistrial Tuesday after complaints about the racial makeup of the jury pool.
The issue arose during the jury selection in the trial of Khyeim D. Tucker. The 24-year-old faces murder, attempted robbery and firearms charges in the Dec. 23, 2008 shooting death of Lester A. Smith Jr.
Smith, 19, was gunned down during a robbery at Langley Square Apartments.
Theft Hampton Commonwealth's Attorney Anton Bell objected when Defense Attorney Gregory Blanchard wanted to strike four white men from the jury pool. If the four men were struck, there would only be one white man on the jury. Tucker is black. Most of the remaining jurors were black.
Bell entered a "Batson motion," which refers to race or gender being used as the sole reason for excluding a juror.
Blanchard told the judge he didn't strike the men because of race. He said his reasoning was based on age and occupation. The men struck were in their 40s and 50s and were professionals. Bell argued after the hearing that there were other professionals on the panel.
Hampton Circuit Judge Louis Lerner said Blanchard's reasoning wasn't sufficient in response to the motion and decided to dismiss the jurors and declared a mistrial. At that point in the selection process, a number of jurors had already been excused for other reasons, leaving a very small pool to choose from.
"I can't reseat the four jurors and start the strikes over again, but that would handicap the defendant…" Lerner said. "I think this is the fairest thing to do for the defense and the commonwealth."
This is another hurdle in a case that has been delayed once before.
Tucker was scheduled to be tried in the Smith homicide in 2009, but was released from prison in November 2009 when the Virginia Court of Appeals ruled that a statement Tucker made to police had to be suppressed, because when he began telling police detectives what happened, he never "freely and voluntarily" waived his previously invoked right to talk to a lawyer.
The trial was to resume Wednesday at 9 a.m. with a new jury panel.
Interesting article. Please contact us if you need legal advice.
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Charlottesville, VA (434-973-7474)
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