Marshall Grace, a Black man, was arrested in New Orleans following a traffic stop where officers discovered approximately 441 grams of methamphetamine in his vehicle. He was subsequently charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine. During jury selection, the government used peremptory strikes to remove two Black potential jurors. Grace's counsel challenged the strike of one juror, Edward Davis, under Batson v. Kentucky, arguing the prosecution engaged in purposeful racial discrimination. The district court initially expressed skepticism about the government's stated reason—that Davis had seven sons and might not be a great juror—but ultimately denied the challenge after questioning Davis further, during which Davis revealed his son had a gun-related criminal record. The jury found Grace guilty, and he was sentenced to 120 months in prison.
The Fifth Circuit addressed two primary issues: the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the conviction and the validity of the Batson challenge. Regarding the evidence, the court applied de novo review, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the verdict. It found ample evidence of an agreement to distribute drugs, including Grace's own admissions of purchasing and supplying methamphetamine to co-conspirators, as well as text messages from those co-conspirators requesting more drugs while Grace was in custody. On the Batson issue, the court applied a clear error standard. It acknowledged that the district court erred procedurally by questioning the juror sua sponte to find a race-neutral reason, noting that the prosecutor must provide the explanation and stand or fall on its plausibility. However, the court concluded that this error did not require reversal. The government's original reason—that the juror had seven sons—was facially race-neutral. The court found that Grace failed to prove this reason was a pretext for discrimination, noting that two Black jurors were ultimately seated on the jury, which undermined the claim of a systematic effort to exclude Black jurors. The court held that the district court's credibility assessment of the prosecutor was not clearly erroneous.
Marshall Grace's conviction and sentence stand. The decision reinforces the high bar for proving pretext in Batson challenges, emphasizing that a defendant must show purposeful discrimination even when the district court makes procedural errors in its inquiry. It also serves as a reminder to trial courts that they should not supply race-neutral reasons for strikes on behalf of the prosecution, as the burden of explanation rests solely with the prosecutor.
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