Opinion
2000-03208
Argued November 16, 2001
December 3, 2001.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Flaherty, J.), rendered March 14, 2000, convicting him of robbery in the second degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.
Lynn W. L. Fahey, New York, N.Y. (Melissa S. Horlick of counsel), for appellant.
Richard A. Brown, District Attorney, Kew Gardens, N Y (John M. Castellano, Johnnette Traill, and Keith Kalmus of counsel), for respondent.
Before: CORNELIUS J. O'BRIEN, J.P., ANITA R. FLORIO, ROBERT W. SCHMIDT, NANCY E. SMITH, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.
Contrary to the defendant's contention, the trial court properly denied his Batson challenge (see, Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79). The prosecutor advanced sufficient race-neutral reasons for exercising a peremptory challenge against the subject juror, and the burden then shifted to the defendant to prove that the peremptory challenge was used in a racially-discriminatory fashion (see, People v. Payne, 88 N.Y.2d 172). The defendant failed to satisfy his burden of proving that the explanations given by the prosecutor were pretextual (see, People v. Payne, supra; People v. Rose, 258 A.D.2d 483; People v. Craig, 194 A.D.2d 687; see generally, Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 364-365).
O'BRIEN, J.P., FLORIO, SCHMIDT and SMITH, JJ., concur.