The People, Plaintiff and Respondent v. George Brett Williams, Defendant and Appellant — Liu, J., Dissenting

Summary

Justice Liu’s dissent argues that the trial court improperly accepted the prosecutor’s vague, demeanor-based explanations for striking the first five Black women in the jury box without conducting the required careful inquiry into purposeful discrimination. She would independently review the record, find it more likely than not that at least two strikes were racially motivated, and reverse the conviction because the jury was selected in violation of equal protection. Justice Werdegar, dissenting, agrees that no deference was warranted and that purposeful discrimination occurred, but would limit the reasoning to the egregious circumstances of this case.