Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Date unavailable
State of Missouri, Respondent, vs. Joshua L. Stokes, Appellant.
Joshua Stokes appealed his conviction for second-degree burglary and stealing, challenging the denial of his Batson objection to the State's peremptory strike of a Black female venireperson. The circuit court denied the challenge, finding the State provided a race-neutral reason. The appellate court affirmed the judgment, concluding that the State's reason for the strike (the venireperson's silence, disinterest, and inattentiveness during voir dire) was race-neutral, and Stokes failed to prove this reason was pretextual.