PEOPLE v. PHILLIPS

Filed 2/14/07

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

COPY

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT

(Sacramento)

     APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Sacramento County, James L. Long, J.  Affirmed.

     Jean M. Marinovich, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

     Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Mary Jo Graves, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Stan Cross, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Susan Rankin Bunting, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

     Defendant Nicholas Phillips was found guilty by a jury of robbing a Togo's sandwich shop.  (Pen. Code, § 211.)^[1]  Defendant waived jury trial on enhancements that were based on a prior serious felony conviction (§ 667, subds. (a), (b)-(i)), and the trial court found the enhancements true.  The trial court denied probation and sentenced defendant to a state prison term of 11  years.

     Defendant appeals, contending the trial court erred by denying his Batson-Wheeler^[2] motion.  The principal question before us is whether it was proper for the trial court to require explanations for only two of the three prospective jurors who were the subject of defendant's motion.  We conclude that it was and shall affirm the judgment.

BACKGROUND

     Defendant, who is African-American, brought a Batson-Wheeler motion during voir dire after the prosecuting attorney exercised three of four peremptory challenges to excuse African-American prospective jurors.  With respect to one of the prospective jurors, the trial court noted:

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