Larry Brown v. Walter Kelly, Superintendent, Attica Correctional Facility

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• finding that “a prosecutor’s reason for discharge bottomed on demeanor evidence deserves particularly careful scrutiny” because such “rationalizations are susceptible to abuse”
• noting that demeanor-related reasons may be legitimate basis for peremptory challenge “if they are sufficiently specific to provide a basis upon which to evaluate their legitimacy”
• stating that once defendant has established prima facie case of racial discrimination, “it is incumbent on the prosecutor to articulate ‘clear and reasonably specific’ race-neutral explanations for the exercise of his peremptory challenges against each of the potential jurors in question”
• upholding finding that reconstruction by the district court was feasible more than six years after jury selection
• upholding peremptory challenges based on prosecutor’s perception of one juror’s “timidity” and “nervousness,” another juror’s “flippant” answers and flirtatious manner with defense counsel, and a third juror’s hostility and unresponsiveness
• “An impression of the conduct and demeanor of a prospective juror during the voir dire may provide a legitimate basis for the exercise of a peremptory challenge.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).