State v. Mills, 225 N.C. App. 773 (Mar. 5, 2013)

The trial court did not err by failing to conduct a Batson hearing where the defendant failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination. At the time the defendant objected, the State's acceptance rate, excluding jurors dismissed for cause, was 25% for African Americans, and 80% for whites. This was the only factor asserted by the defendant. The court noted that the defendant and both murder victims were African American and that the State questioned all the prospective jurors in the same manner, there were no racially motivated comments made or questions asked during jury selection, and the responses of the prospective jurors provided reasonable justification for exclusion.

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