State vs. Calvin Scott

The Appellant, Calvin Scott, was found guilty by a Shelby County jury of aggravated robbery, two counts of especially aggravated robbery, and two counts of first degree murder. The trial court sentenced Scott to an effective sentence of life plus twenty-two years. In this appeal as of right, Scott raises the following issues for our review: (1) whether the State asserted sufficient race-neutral explanations to support its exercise of peremptory challenges against four African-American jurors; and (2) whether the trial court, after concluding that the State's exercise of a peremptory challenge was improper, should have dismissed the entire panel rather than reseating the juror. We conclude that the State's use of its peremptory challenges was proper, and the trial court did not err by reseating the challenged juror. Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.