Batson

After a trial in the Graves Circuit Court, a jury convicted Cole Ross of murder and arson. He appealed the conviction claiming that the Commonwealth of Kentucky used its peremptory challenges to dismiss female jurors based on gender. Seven out of the nine peremptory challenges used by the Commonwealth to remove prospective jurors dismissed women. The trial court found that the Commonwealth’s justifications were gender neutral and non-pretextual.

In State v. Webster, the defendant was convicted of grand theft by deception and appealed, arguing that the State engaged in unconstitutional gender discrimination during jury selection. Specifically, the prosecution used seven of its ten peremptory strikes to remove female jurors. The defendant claimed this was based on the stereotype that women would be more sympathetic toward him because he was a young and attractive man.