State v. Carter, 212 N.C. App. 516 (Jun. 21, 2011)

The trial court did not err by rejecting the defendant’s Batson challenge as to two black jurors. The prosecutor's explanation with respect to both jurors included the fact that both had a close family member who was incarcerated and had not been "treated fairly." The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the State accepted a white male juror whose father had been incarcerated, noting that the white juror indicated that he was not close to his father and that his father had been treated fairly. The court also rejected the defendant’s argument that the State's peremptory challenges left the defendant, who was black, with an all-white jury, concluding that Batson requires purposeful discrimination; it is not enough that the effect of the challenge was to eliminate all or some African-American jurors.