Tony Terrell Clark v. Mississippi

At Clark’s capital trial, the State used seven peremptory strikes against Black members of the venire. Clark v. State, 343 So. 3d 943, 954 (Miss. 2022). After five such jurors had been struck, Clark’s trial counsel raised a challenge under Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986). The trial court found that the defense made a prima facie showing but ultimately denied Clark’s Batson claims. The State proceeded to use three more strikes against Black jurors.1 A second Batson hearing was held, and Clark’s challenge was again denied. The jury was seated with eleven white jurors, one Black juror, and two white alternative jurors. On direct appeal, the Mississippi Supreme Court refused to consider Clark’s comparative juror analysis and rebuttal arguments, holding that they were waived because they were not presented to the trial court. See Clark v. State, 343 So. 3d 943, 954-71 (Miss. 2022). On postconviction, Clark raised a claim for ineffective assistance of trial counsel for failing to present fully developed Batson rebuttal arguments. Clark v. State, 418 So. 3d 1226, 1231-32 (Miss. 2025); cf. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984). The Mississippi Supreme Court again refused to review Clark’s Batson claims. In Mississippi, to prove Strickland prejudice, a post-conviction petitioner must meet an impossible standard: proving a successful Batson challenge would have changed the outcome of the entire trial. 1 The State withdrew of one the previous strikes. Clark, 343 So. 3d at 954.