Argued
January 16, 2019
Procedural
History
Substitute
information charging the defendant with the crimes of assault
in the first degree as an accessory and conspiracy to commit
assault in the first degree, brought to the Superior Court in
the judicial district of Hartford and tried to the jury
before Mullarkey, J.; verdict and judgment of guilty, from
which the defendant appealed to the Appellate Court,
DiPentima, C. J., and Sheldon and Flynn, Js., which affirmed
the trial court's judgment, and the defendant, on the
granting of certification, appealed to this court. Affirmed.
Alice
Osedach, assistant public defender, for the appellant
(defendant).
Timothy J. Sugrue, assistant state's attorney, with whom,
on the brief, were Gail P. Hardy, state's attorney, and
David L. Zagaja, senior assistant state's attorney, for
the appellee (state).
Robinson, C. J., and Palmer, McDonald, D'Auria, Kahn,
Ecker and Vertefeuille, Js.
OPINION
PER
CURIAM.
The
defendant, James Raynor, appeals, upon our grant of his
petition for certification, [1]from the judgment of the Appellate
Court affirming his conviction, rendered after a jury trial,
of assault in the first degree as an accessory in violation
of General Statutes §§ 53a-59 (a) (5) and 53a-8,
and conspiracy to commit assault in the first degree in
violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-59 (a) (5) and
53a-48. State v. Raynor, 175 Conn.App. 409, 412-13,
167 A.3d 1076 (2017). On appeal, the defendant claims that
the Appellate Court incorrectly concluded that that the
record was inadequate to review his challenge under
Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90
L.Ed.2d 69 (1986), to the prosecutor's exercise of a
peremptory challenge on prospective juror R.E.[2] on the basis of
his employment history, even though the record does not
indicate the race or ethnicity of both R.E. and one of the
two jurors, I.L. and G.H., whom the defendant highlighted as
examples of disparate treatment by the prosecutor. In
response, the state disagrees and also proffers, as an
alternative ground for affirmance, that the trial court did
not commit clear error in finding that the prosecutor did not
engage in purposeful discrimination when he peremptorily
challenged R.E. We affirm the judgment of the Appellate
Court.
The
Appellate Court's opinion sets forth the following
relevant facts and procedural history. ‘‘Jury
selection occurred over the course of two days, October 30
and 31, 2014. On the first day of jury selection, the parties
conducted voir dire of a prospective juror, R.E. Prior to
defense counsel's questioning of R.E., the court inquired
as to whether R.E. would suffer any financial hardship by
participating in jury duty. In response, R.E. initially
informed the court that, although he worked part-time, his
shift began at 4:30 p.m. and . . . his job was within walking
distance of the courthouse. The court then asked R.E. to
contact his employer to determine whether he would be
compensated for any work he missed or, alternatively, whether
he would be able to begin his shift after 5 p.m. After
speaking with his employer, R.E. stated that, if he were
selected to serve, he would be able to start his shifts after
the court had adjourned for the day, and thus he had no
financial concerns about being selected as a juror.
‘‘Thereafter,
defense counsel questioned R.E. as to whether he could keep
an open mind, determine which witnesses were credible, follow
the court's instructions on the law, and engage in a free
exchange of ideas with his fellow jurors during
deliberations. R.E. answered in the affirmative to each of
these questions. Thereafter, the following colloquy occurred
during the prosecutor's voir dire of R.E.:
‘‘ ‘[The Prosecutor]: . . . You're from
Hartford?
‘‘ ‘[R.E.]: Yes.
‘‘ ‘[The Prosecutor]: You haven't heard
anything about this incident-
‘‘ ‘[R.E.]: No, sir.
‘‘ ‘[The Prosecutor]: -which was presented
to you? None of the names that were listed to you sounded
familiar-
‘‘ ‘[R.E.]: No, sir.
‘‘ ‘[The Prosecutor]: -anything like that?
So, you're [employed] at Easter Seals. You've been
there for ...