September 2017 Bar Bulletin
By Gene Barton
The Washington Supreme Court’s July 6 decision in City of Seattle v. Erickson will effect a sea change in the manner in which peremptory challenges will be reviewed when the result is excusing a minority member of the venire when a minority defendant is on trial.
As a unanimous Court stated, “We amend our Batson framework and hold that the peremptory strike of a juror who is the only member of a cognizable racial group constitutes a prima facie showing of racial discrimination requiring a full Batson analysis by the trial court.”1
The first paragraph of the Court’s...