People v. Gutierrez

Summary

The court held that the trial court did not make a sincere and reasoned evaluation of the prosecutor's stated justification for striking a Hispanic prospective juror, and that the record did not support its finding that the strike was genuine and nondiscriminatory. The court also held that the Court of Appeal erred by refusing to conduct comparative juror analysis, including when raised for the first time on appeal if the record permits comparison. Because discriminatory jury selection is structural error, the court reversed the Court of Appeal's judgment and remanded for further proceedings.