Why are you striking those Hispanic jurors?

A busy morning at the Dallas County Courthouse; the trial of a personal injury case about a rear-end collision; and the defense counsel strikes three Hispanic jurors. Has he violated the Batson cases that forbid strikes based on race or ethnicity?

The answer to that question turns on how the law must use objective facts -- statistics, the transcript of the specific questions asked during jury selection, etc. -- because the subjective intent of counsel is unknowable. Reasonable minds differed on that point in this case, as they often do in resolving important questions about the presence of racial animus in our society.