Watkins v. State
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed his convictions and sentences for malice murder, aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. At issue was whether the State engaged in unconstitutional gender-based discrimination by using seven of its eight peremptory strikes against women; whether the State engaged in unconstitutional race-based discrimination by using three of its eight peremptory strikes against African-Americans; whether defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel; and whether the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion to suppress his statement to the police. The court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in ruling that defendant failed to establish a prima facie case of discriminatory purpose based on gender; that the record supported the trial court's finding that reasons offered for the three strikes against African-American jurors were race neutral and not pretextual; that defendant did not receive ineffective assistance of counsel where defendant alleged that counsel failed to elicit sufficient testimony from defendant's expert at the Jackson-Denno hearing, failed to move for mistrial, and failed to object to the State reviewing expert's notes at the Jackson-Denno hearing; and that the trial court did not err in concluding that defendant made a knowing and voluntary waiver of his Miranda rights. Accordingly, the court affirmed the convictions and sentences.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.