DallasNews.com | Striking Differences

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ABOUT THIS SERIES Racial discrimination in jury selection was a scourge on the Dallas County district attorney's office for decades and was cited recently by the U.S. Supreme Court as it overturned a 1986 death penalty case. The Dallas Morning News spent two years gathering and analyzing jury data from felony court trials to see what had changed. Key Findings: • Dallas County prosecutors excluded black jurors at more than twice the rate they rejected whites. • Defense attorneys excluded whites at more than three times the rate they rejected blacks. • Even when blacks and whites gave similar answers to key questions asked by prosecutors, blacks were excluded at higher rates. • Blacks ultimately served on juries in numbers that mirror their population primarily because of the dueling prosecution and defense strategies. • Methodology \| Expanded methodology analysis \| From the editor

IN THE NEWS Sunday A process of juror elimination • Secret database used in weeding out jurors • The case of the 'liberal' medallion • 'Your teeth are not missing?' 'They're all here. Thank you' • Prosecutor tackles race issue head-on • Hispanics underrepresented on felony juries, analysis shows Monday Jurors' race a focal point for defense • If sides don't like seating order, they use a uniquely Texan tool: a jury shuffle • Defense lawyer regards shuffle as key to success Tuesday Judges rarely detect jury selection bias • Famed DA's son still sees race bias • Disputed practice still a courtroom fixture • Sides say time has hand in stereotyping • 'I just felt like I was lynched' Online Only • When it comes to race, Batson rules • When racial friction almost rubbed out a future justice		RESOURCES Glossary of terms Supreme Court decisions • Major Supreme Court decisions on racial discrimination in jury selection • April 1986: Batson vs. Kentucky • October 2004: Arguments: Miller-El vs. Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice • June 2005: Decision in favor of Miller-El Trial transcripts • March 2005: Defense challenges prosecutor's strikes of nine eligible black jurors • January 2004: Defense challenges prosecutor's strikes of four eligible black jurors • March 2002: Prosecutor challenges defense's strikes of four eligible black jurors • October 2002: Defense challenges prosecutor's strikes of five eligible black jurors

INTERACTIVE Shuffle your jury Juror Strikes • Take the quiz. Are missing teeth a valid reason for striking a juror? • Acceptable, race-neutral reasons to strike a juror E-mail • Send comments on this report to jury@dallasnews.com.		IN 1986 In March 1986, The Dallas Morning News published a study of jury selection that showed prosecutors under longtime District Attorney Henry Wade were using peremptory or discretionary strikes to exclude almost 90 percent of eligible blacks. The analysis was subsequently cited as part of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion that established an unprecedented process to eliminate the practice of jury discrimination that had plagued the American justice system since the Reconstruction era. • *Read The News' 1986 series*

Credits: Reporters: Steve McGonigle, Holly Becka, Jennifer LaFleur, Tim Wyatt; Photographer: Richard Michael Pruitt; Graphic artists: Sergio Pecanha, Tom Setzer; Designers: Cindy Smith, Chuck Stewart; Copy Editor: Frank Christlieb; Photo Editor: Anne Farrar; Researchers: Reese Dunklin, Marina Trahan Martinez, Darlean Spangenberger; Project Editors: Maud Beelman, Randy Lee Loftis, Pam Maples; Multimedia: Alberto Gomez; Web editor: Jodi M. Leese

© 2005 The Dallas Morning News Co.