Turner

Certified for Partial Publication. [*]

Defendant Joann Turner appeals from a judgment entered after a jury found her guilty of possessing cocaine base for the purpose of sale (Health & Saf.Code, § 11351.5) and possessing marijuana for the purpose of sale ( id., § 11359). The trial court thereafter sentenced defendant to state prison for the term prescribed by law. We reverse the judgment.

Defendant contends the prosecutor improperly exercised peremptory challenges on the basis of group bias, thereby denying defendant certain constitutional rights. We agree in part.

A party may not use peremptory challenges to remove prospective jurors solely on the basis of group bias presumed from the jurors' membership in "an identifiable group distinguished on racial, religious, ethnic, or similar grounds." ( People v. Fuentes (1991) 54 Cal.3d 707, 713 , 286 Cal.Rptr. 792 , 818 P.2d 75 ; accord, People v. Williams (1997) 16 Cal.4th 635, 668 , 66 Cal.Rptr.2d 573 , 941 P.2d 752 .) The use of peremptory challenges for this reason violates the right to trial by an impartial jury under article I, section 16 of the California Constitution. ( People v. Wheeler (1978) 22 Cal.3d 258,…