People v. Gutierrez
California Supreme Court
395 P.3d 1886 (2017)
- Written by Paul Neel, JD
Facts
Rene Gutierrez (defendant) joined codefendants in searching for Clarence Langston after Langston was involved in an altercation with one of the codefendants. When Gutierrez and his codefendants found Langston, Gutierrez shot Langston. Langston survived. The state (plaintiff) charged Gutierrez with attempted murder, assault with a firearm, and gang participation. Gutierrez and two codefendants were Hispanic. The prosecution believed Gutierrez and his codefendants were affiliated with subgroups of the Sereño gang, one of which was in Wasco, California. During voir dire, the prosecution exercised 10 of 16 peremptory strikes to remove Hispanic jurors. Four of these strikes were consecutive. The prosecution struck one Hispanic juror who stated that she had family in law enforcement, no family affiliated with gangs, lived in Wasco, but was unaware of any gang activity in Wasco. Gutierrez and his codefendants filed a joint Batson motion. The trial court denied the motion. The jury convicted Gutierrez. Gutierrez appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Cuéllar, J.)
Concurrence (Liu, J.)
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