People v. Brewster

Appellant and defendant Anthony R. Brewster (Brewster) appeals from the judgment entered February 7, 1984, following a jury’s verdict finding him guilty of robbery. (Pen. Code, § 211.) We affirm.

(All statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise stated.)

Brewster raises only two issues on appeal. He first contends that the trial court committed reversible error in denying his motion made pursuant to People v. Wheeler (1978) 22 Cal.3d 258 [ 148 Cal.Rptr. 890 , 583 P.2d 748 ], claiming that the court failed to conduct a sincere and reasoned evaluation of the prosecutor’s justifications for exercising four of his five peremptory challenges against Black veniremen. (We note that Brewster is Black while the robbery victim is White.)

In Wheeler, supra, and in the subsequent case of People v. Hall (1983) 35 Cal.3d 161 [ 197 Cal.Rptr. 71 , 672 P.2d 854 ], the Supreme Court held that a party may not exercise his peremptory challenges to exclude systematically members of a cognizable group in violation of the defendant’s constitutional right to a trial by a jury drawn from a representative cross-section of the community. (People v. Wheeler, supra, 22 Cal.3d at pp.…