## Facts

- Kawame Lloyd Mays, an African-American defendant, was tried for the shooting death of Michael Walker, a white man.
- On July 11, 1997, Mays was at Linda Bass’s home; Bass was the only eyewitness to the shooting.
- Walker fled an apparent street assault and ran to Bass’s porch; no words were exchanged between Walker and Mays at the porch.
- As Walker entered his truck and began to drive away, Bass testified Mays—about 50 feet away—fired repeatedly at the truck, stepping forward and continuing to shoot as it moved away.
- A bullet entered the truck’s side window, fragmented, struck Walker in the back of the head, and killed him; the truck then crashed.
- When Bass asked why Mays shot, he responded, “I’m sorry.”
- Mays testified he lacked intent to kill and claimed he was firing generally toward the earlier altercation rather than at Walker.
- During jury selection, the prosecutor used 9 of 13 peremptory strikes against African-American venire members; the defense raised a Batson objection.
- The trial court ruled Mays failed to make a prima facie showing of purposeful discrimination and did not require the State to offer race-neutral explanations.
- The jury convicted Mays of first-degree murder on theories of (1) premeditation and deliberation and (2) felony murder; he was sentenced to life without parole.

## Issues

1. Whether the trial court erred in concluding the defendant failed to establish a prima facie Batson violation based on the State’s peremptory strikes.
2. Whether any error in submitting felony-murder instructions required a new trial when the jury also found first-degree murder based on premeditation and deliberation supported by the evidence.

## Decision

- The appellate court affirmed the conviction and sentence.
- The court held the trial court did not clearly err in finding no prima facie Batson showing; therefore, the State was not required to provide race-neutral reasons.
- The court held that even if the felony-murder submission was defective, any error was harmless because the jury also convicted on premeditation and deliberation and the evidence supported that theory.

## Legal Principles

- A Batson claim follows a three-step framework; at step one, the defendant must show circumstances raising an inference that peremptory strikes were exercised on an impermissible basis such as race.
- A high proportion of strikes against minority venire members, standing alone, does not necessarily establish a prima facie case; courts consider all relevant circumstances.
- Appellate review of a trial court’s determination that no prima facie Batson case was shown is deferential and will be reversed only for clear error.
- When a jury returns a first-degree murder verdict on both felony murder and premeditation/deliberation, and the evidence supports premeditation/deliberation, any error related solely to the felony-murder theory is harmless.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed the first-degree murder conviction and life-without-parole sentence, holding that the defendant did not establish a prima facie Batson violation and that any arguable felony-murder instruction error did not warrant relief because the premeditation-and-deliberation verdict was independently supported by the evidence.


State v. Mays, 573 S.E.2d 202 (N.C. Ct. App. 2002)