P. v. Ibarra
After we reversed defendants second degree murder conviction[1]based on error under Batson v. Kentucky (1986) 476 U.S. 79 (Batson), and People v. Wheeler (1978) 22 Cal.3d 258 (Wheeler), the Supreme Court granted review and transferred the matter back to this court with directions to reconsider the Batson/Wheeler issue in light of People v. Avila (2006) 38 Cal.4th 491, and People v. Johnson (2006) 38 Cal.4th 1096. In accordance with People v. Johnson, we conditionally reversed the judgment and remanded the matter to the trial court to conduct a hearing at which the prosecutor would be afforded an opportunity to provide a race-neutral explanation for his use of a peremptory challenge to excuse a prospective African-American juror identified as Mr. T. The trial court conducted that hearing, and based on the prosecutors statements at that hearing, found that the prosecutor had provided a race-neutral explanation for his use of the peremptory challenge and as a result the trial court found that defendant had failed to establish purposeful discrimination. Consequently, the trial court denied defendants so-called Wheeler motion and, in accordance with the directions set out in our disposition, reinstated the judgment.
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