Prosecutors in a first-degree manslaughter trial used race-based challenges against two black prospective jurors, requiring the reversal of the defendant's conviction and a new trial, a Brooklyn-based appellate court has ruled.

A unanimous panel of the Appellate Division, Second Department, agreed with Robert Bell's attorneys in People v. Bell, 9306/08, that the reasons given for peremptory challenges by two Brooklyn assistant district attorneys were pretextual. Thus, the conviction could not stand under the U.S. Supreme Court case Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, which prohibits peremptory challenges based on race or gender.

Joining the unsigned decision were Justices John Leventhal, L. Priscilla Hall, Leonard Austin and Sheri Roman.