U.S. v. Nieto

In prosecution on federal racketeering and narcotics laws, Dist. Ct. did not err in denying Hispanic defendants’ Batson challenge to prosecutor’s use of two peremptory challenges to prospective Hispanic jurors under circumstances, where prosecutor allowed only one Hispanic juror on jury, and where venire contained only five Hispanic members. One juror was upset with many government actions taken as to immigration and mental health areas, while other juror expressed opinion that justice system was flawed. Dist. Ct. could properly find that prosecutor’s explanation for said peremptory challenges, i.e., that said jurors reflected distain for government, was ethnic-neutral and believable, and that defendants had failed to show that said explanation was pretext for bias against Hispanics or that prosecutor was inconsistent in allowing non-Hispanic individuals on jury who had expressed similar distain for government. Also, record contained sufficient evidence to support jury’s finding that one defendant was responsible for 2009 murder that was related to gang activities associated with charged offenses, where jury could find through circumstantial evidence that defendant had admitted to others that he had shot victim. Fact that no physical or forensic evidence linked defendant to shooting did not require different result. Also, record supported jury’s verdict that other defendant had committed 2013 murder that was related to charged RICO offenses, where defendant told others that robbery of third-party/murder of another individual coming to third-party’s aid was related to fact that third-party had moved into gang’s territory.