McBride v. State

Kenneth McBride was charged with aggravated assault with attempt to rape Count 1, aggravated assault Count 2, and kidnapping Count 3, arising out of an alleged attack upon a woman in October 1997. With respect to Count 1, the jury found McBride guilty of the lesser offense of battery. The jury also found McBride guilty of kidnapping, but could not reach a verdict on Count 2. McBride appeals, claiming that the trial court erred in sustaining the State’s challenge to his peremptory strikes of certain jurors and in excluding evidence that the victim had made prior false allegations of sexual misconduct against another person. For reasons discussed below, we reverse.

1. During the jury selection process, McBride used six of his peremptory strikes to exclude white females from the jury, and used two additional strikes to exclude white females as potential alternate jurors. The State challenged these strikes pursuant to Georgia v. McCollum,1 which extended the rule of Batson v. Kentucky2 to cases involving peremptory challenges made by criminal defendants.3 After McBride’s attorney offered explanations for the strikes, the trial court upheld the State’s challenge to three of the strikes, ordering the stricken jurors reinstated. McBride argues that this was error, and we agree.