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Reyes v. Greiner
Citation: 150 F. App'x 77Docket: Docket No. 04-5238-PR
Court: Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; October 4, 2005; Federal Appellate Court
The judgment of the District Court is affirmed concerning petitioner-appellant Franklin Reyes's appeal of his denied habeas corpus petition. Reyes claims the prosecution improperly used peremptory challenges to exclude Hispanic jurors, violating the Equal Protection Clause. The district court granted a certificate of appealability regarding this claim. Reyes presents two primary arguments on appeal. First, he contends that the prosecution's reasons for juror exclusions were pretextual, arguing the trial court incorrectly allowed the strikes based on race-neutral justifications related to jurors' personal circumstances. The court found these justifications valid and concluded that the trial court's acceptance did not unreasonably apply the Batson framework. Second, Reyes argues the trial court failed to make explicit or implicit credibility findings regarding the prosecutor's justifications, thus not completing the Batson analysis's third step. However, this argument was not previously raised in state courts, rendering it procedurally barred. The district court, while expressing its view that Batson challenges should undergo harmless error review, acknowledged that this position contradicts existing circuit law established in Tankleff v. Senkowski. The court clarified that its opinion should not be construed as altering the precedent until a higher court decides otherwise. All of Reyes’s claims have been considered and found meritless, leading to the affirmation of the district court's judgment.