Opinion
March 17, 1995
Appeal from the Monroe County Court, Egan, J.
Present — Denman, P.J., Green, Fallon, Balio and Boehm, JJ.
Judgment unanimously affirmed. Memorandum: We reject the contention of defendant that the prosecutor improperly exercised peremptory challenges to remove two black prospective jurors from the jury. Defendant failed to articulate factual grounds adequate to raise the inference that the prosecutor employed his challenge to exclude the first prospective juror because of her race (see, People v. Childress, 81 N.Y.2d 263, 268; People v. Smith, 81 N.Y.2d 875, 876, rearg denied 81 N.Y.2d 1068). With respect to the other prospective juror, the prosecutor proffered a "race-neutral explanation" for exercising the peremptory challenge (Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 359; see, Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 96-97; People v. Childress, supra, at 266).
We further conclude that defendant's conviction is supported by legally sufficient evidence and is not against the weight of the evidence (see, People v. Williams, 84 N.Y.2d 925; People v. Wong, 81 N.Y.2d 600, 608; People v. Bleakley, 69 N.Y.2d 490, 495).