27 Ark. App. 154 - Hodges v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “In Ward v. State, 293 Ark. 88 , 733 S.W.2d 728 (1987), the Arkansas Supreme Court discussed and followed Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), in which the United States Supreme Court held that a defendant could make a prima facie case Gf racial discrimination in jury selection by showing that the totality of the relevant facts gives rise to an inference of discriminatory purpose; or by showing there has been a total or seriously disproportionate exclusion of members of the racial group from the jury venires; or by showing a “pattern” of strikes against members of the group; or by the prosecutor’s questions or statements during voir dire examination. See summary in Ward, 293 Ark. at 92-93 . The opinion in Ward said: “This does not mean black people cannot be struck from a jury. It means that if a defendant makes a prima facie case of intentional discrimination, the state must offer some explanation other than race.” Merely denying a discriminatory motive or affirming good faith is not enough; the prosecutor must “articulate a neutral explanation related to the particular case to be tried.” The trial judge must then conduct a “sensitive inquiry” into the direct and circumstantial evidence available to decide if the state has made an adequate explanation. Ward, 293 Ark. at 92-93 .”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Muhammed v. State