Jones v. Hilton New Orleans Riverboat Casino

Supreme Court of Louisiana
Jones v. Hilton New Orleans Riverboat Casino, 788 So. 2d 433 (La. 2001)
2001 La. LEXIS 1042; 2001 WL 334713

Jones v. Hilton New Orleans Riverboat Casino

Opinion of the Court

In re Queen of New Orleans at the Hilton Joint Venture; Sphere Drake Insurance; — Defendants; Applying for Supervisory and/or Remedial Writs, Parish of Orleans, Civil District Court Div. F, No. 95-07083; to the Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit, No. 2001-C-0573.

Granted. The Court of Appeal’s judgment is reversed and the trial court’s judgment is reinstated. Although plaintiffs counsel articulated a non-racial reason for his exercise of the five peremptory challenges at issue, the trial court did not abuse its great discretion in finding a racial motive, a finding which turned primarily on an assessment of credibility. See Purkett v. Elem, 514 U.S. 765, 769, 115 S.Ct. 1769, 1771-72, 131 L.Ed.2d 834 (1995). Accordingly, the case is remanded for trial with the jury empaneled by the trial court on March 19, 2001.

Reference

Full Case Name
Willie JONES, Jr. v. HILTON NEW ORLEANS RIVERBOAT CASINO (A.D.B.A. Flamingo Casino), Platt Marine Services, Inc. Bill Carl, Pat Daniels, D. Antonio, and XYZ Insurance Company
Status
Published