In one famous case, a prosecutor excluded two African-American jurors because they had mustaches and beards that looked "suspicious."

The prosecutor in this case excluded all of the African-American potential jurors from the jury, without asking them any questions first.

As a result, one African-American juror was seated during the trial.

During the selection process, the state challenged African-American jurors with its first seven strikes, which resulted in a Batson challenge by the defense.

Following its submission of non-racial grounds for its challenges, the state used its five remaining challenges to strike African-American jurors.

Leibowitz objected that African-American jurors had been excluded from this jury pool also.

It was the basis for the court's finding that an exclusion of African-American grand jurors had occurred.

In Powers v. Ohio, - (1991), it held that in the trial of a white criminal defendant, a prosecutor is prohibited from excluding African-American jurors on the basis of race.

Studies indicate that in race-sensitive cases, a 12-person jury must consist of at least 3 African-American jurors to neutralize the race factor.

The defense promptly appealed one of the dismissals, that of a black man, saying in court papers that the prosecution was "systematically attempting to target African-American jurors for dismissal."