| People v Smith |
| 2009 NY Slip Op 07445 [66 AD3d 801] |
| October 13, 2009 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v LarrySmith, Appellant. |
—[*1] Charles J. Hynes, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove and Howard B.Goodman of counsel), for respondent.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Hall, J.),rendered July 8, 2005, convicting him of murder in the first degree (two counts), upon a juryverdict, and imposing sentence.
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
The defendant contends that the Supreme Court erred in denying his Batsonchallenge (see Batson v Kentucky, 476 US 79 [1986]) because the prosecutor'sexplanations for striking a black female prospective juror were pretextual. However, thedefendant's challenge was properly denied since he failed to satisfy his burden of demonstrating,under the third prong of the Batson analysis, that the facially race-neutral andgender-neutral explanations given by the prosecutor were a pretext for discrimination (seePeople v Payne, 88 NY2d 172, 181 [1996]).
The defendant's remaining contention is without merit. Rivera, J.P., Florio, Eng andLeventhal, JJ., concur.