Dunn v. State
304 Ga. 647
Ga.2018Background
- Justin Eric Dunn was convicted by a jury (Aug. 2012) of malice murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and three firearm counts for a 2011 shooting death; sentenced to life plus 55 years.
- Eyewitnesses identified Dunn at the scene; a 9mm pistol recovered from Dunn’s car was forensically linked to shell casings from the murder scene; other inculpatory items were found in Dunn’s home.
- During jury selection the defense used peremptory strikes that resulted in an all-Black jury panel; the State objected under Georgia v. McCollum (reverse Batson) alleging discriminatory use of strikes.
- The trial court conducted a colloquy about several strikes; defense counsel offered age and life-experience reasons for striking panel member No. 28 (a white female), later expanding her explanation.
- The court concluded, after hearing the parties, that the proffered explanation for striking No. 28 was pretextual and showed discriminatory intent, seated No. 28, and denied Dunn’s peremptory strike.
- Dunn appealed solely on the ground that the trial court erred in its McCollum ruling; the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether the trial court erred in overruling Dunn’s peremptory strike of panel member No. 28 under McCollum (reverse Batson) | State: Defense used strikes to exclude white jurors and created an all-Black jury; proffered reasons for strikes were pretextual | Dunn: Offered race-neutral reasons (youth, different life experience) for striking No. 28 and argued the court failed to properly apply step three of McCollum | Court: Affirmed — court implicitly conducted the step-three credibility inquiry, found defense explanation pretextual, and did not clearly err |
| Whether the trial court misapplied McCollum by labeling neutrality findings incorrectly | State: N/A (respondent) | Dunn: Court focused improperly on step two and failed to make the requisite step-three finding | Court: Nomenclature not dispositive; court read the entire colloquy and reasonably concluded it performed the third-step assessment and rejected the strike as pretextual |
| Whether the initial explanation (age) was facially race-neutral but nonetheless pretextual | State: Prosecutors argued the age reason was inconsistent with allowing a similarly young Black juror | Dunn: Age-based reason is race-neutral and permissible | Court: Age is race-neutral but counsel’s change/expansion of reasons and context supported the court’s conclusion of pretext and discriminatory intent |
| Whether deference to trial court’s McCollum credibility findings was warranted | State: Trial court is the factfinder on discriminatory intent; its credibility calls deserve deference | Dunn: N/A (appellant challenges the result) | Court: Adopted deferential standard and found no clear error in the trial court’s credibility determination |
Key Cases Cited
- McCollum v. Georgia, 505 U.S. 42 (prohibits defendants from purposeful racial discrimination in peremptory strikes)
- Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (established burden-shifting test for race-based peremptory challenges)
- Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence)
- Edwards v. State, 301 Ga. 822 (affirms deference to trial court on McCollum rulings and contextual review of colloquy)