The People of the State of Colorado v. Ray Ojeda

Summary

The court held that the prosecution failed to satisfy the second step of the Batson framework because its explanation for striking a Hispanic juror expressly relied in part on the juror’s ethnicity and perceived racial affinity with the defendant. The trial court also erred by supplying its own race-neutral reasons rather than evaluating the prosecutor’s stated reasons. The court affirmed the court of appeals’ judgment on this alternate ground, leaving Ojeda’s conviction unable to stand.