Keith Jamerson v. Gail Lewis , 713 F.3d 1218 ( 2013 )


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  •                      FOR PUBLICATION
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
    KEITH JAMERSON ,                                   No. 12-56064
    Petitioner-Appellee,
    D.C. No.
    v.                           2:02-cv-09890-
    JHN-AJW
    DAVID L. RUNNELS, Warden,
    Respondent-Appellant.                    OPINION
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Central District of California
    Jacqueline H. Nguyen, District Judge, Presiding
    Argued and Submitted
    November 7, 2012—Pasadena, California
    Filed April 24, 2013
    Before: Dorothy W. Nelson and Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain,
    Circuit Judges, and James K. Singleton, District Judge.*
    Opinion by Judge O’Scannlain
    *
    The Honorable James K. Singleton, Senior United States District Judge
    for the District of Alaska, sitting by designation.
    2                     JAMERSON V . RUNNELS
    SUMMARY**
    Habeas Corpus
    The panel reversed the district court’s grant of a
    
    28 U.S.C. § 2254
     habeas corpus petition challenging a
    conviction of receiving stolen property based on Batson v.
    Kentucky, 
    476 U.S. 79
     (1986).
    The panel first held that it was not precluded from
    considering the driver’s license photographs that showed the
    race of each venire member, to the extent that the
    photographs merely reconstructed facts visible to the state
    trial court that ruled on petitioner’s Batson challenge.
    In evaluating the Batson claim, the panel first performed
    the comparative analysis that the state court declined to
    pursue (because state law precluded such review for the first
    time on appeal). The panel then reevaluated the ultimate state
    decision in light of the comparative analysis and any other
    evidence tending to show purposeful discrimination, to decide
    whether the state was unreasonable in finding the
    prosecutor’s race-neutral justifications to be genuine. The
    panel concluded that, although some of the prosecutor’s
    justifications appeared thin at first glance, a more searching
    review revealed nothing in the record suggesting that the state
    court unreasonably found these reasons to be genuine and not
    pretextual.
    **
    This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has
    been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader.
    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS                      3
    COUNSEL
    David A. Wildman, Deputy Attorney General, Los Angeles,
    CA, argued the cause and filed a brief for the respondent-
    appellant. With him on the brief were Kamala D. Harris,
    Attorney General of California; Dane R. Gillette, Chief
    Assistant Attorney General; Lance E. Winters, Senior
    Assistant Attorney General; and Jason Tran, Deputy Attorney
    General, Los Angeles, CA.
    Brianna J. Fuller, Deputy Federal Public Defender, Los
    Angeles, CA, argued the cause and filed a brief for the
    petitioner-appellee. With her on the brief was Sean K.
    Kennedy, Federal Public Defender, Los Angeles, CA.
    OPINION
    O’SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge:
    We must decide whether the California courts’
    determination that a prosecutor had genuine, race-neutral
    reasons for striking four black jurors during voir dire was an
    unreasonable application of federal constitutional law.
    I
    On June 15, 1999, California Highway Patrol Officers
    Joseph Phillips and John Beay found Petitioner Keith
    Jamerson sitting in the driver’s seat of a Chevrolet truck
    stopped on a highway exit ramp in Manchester, California.
    Jamerson claimed to own the truck and requested that the
    officers help him move it off the exit ramp. Noticing that the
    passenger window on the truck was broken and that broken
    4                  JAMERSON V . RUNNELS
    glass was scattered on the passenger seat and floorboard, the
    officers ran the license plate of the truck before attempting to
    move it. They discovered that the vehicle was registered to
    Phillip Allen—not Jamerson. Further investigation revealed
    that Jamerson did not have a key to the vehicle and that the
    ignition had been turned without a key. Jamerson’s walking
    cane was found on the passenger seat atop the broken glass.
    Jamerson was charged in California state court with one
    count of unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle and one count
    of receiving stolen property. He was convicted of receiving
    stolen property, but the jury could not reach a verdict on the
    unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle charge, and thus that
    count was dismissed.
    During jury selection for his trial, Jamerson twice raised
    an objection under Batson v. Kentucky, 
    476 U.S. 79
     (1986),
    and its California analog, People v. Wheeler, 
    583 P.2d 748
    (Cal. 1978), to the prosecutor’s use of peremptory strikes
    against black jurors. He raised the first after the prosecutor
    had exercised eight of her peremptory challenges—two
    against Hispanic jurors and six against black jurors. The trial
    court determined that Jamerson had made “a prima facie
    showing” of an improper motive and required the prosecutor
    to explain her reasons for striking the black jurors. After the
    prosecutor provided her justifications for striking each juror,
    the trial judge found that the prosecutor had offered “valid,
    independent reasons which is [sic] a proper basis to excuse a
    juror.” He denied Jamerson’s Batson/Wheeler motion.
    Voir dire continued, and the prosecutor exercised her next
    two peremptory challenges on black jurors. Jamerson
    renewed his Batson/Wheeler motion. Although the judge
    believed that he had observed grounds warranting the two
    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS                      5
    strikes, he again required the prosecutor to “justify them.”
    The prosecutor provided her reasons for striking both jurors,
    and the trial judge concluded “that the prosecutor in good
    faith [wa]s giving reasons” for her peremptory strikes. He
    denied the second motion.
    Although the prosecutor exercised five additional
    peremptory strikes after Jamerson’s second Batson/Wheeler
    motion—three against white jurors and two against black
    jurors—Jamerson did not renew his Batson/Wheeler motion
    a third time. The final jury panel included one Asian juror,
    two black jurors, five Hispanic jurors, and four white jurors.
    A black juror and a white juror were seated as alternates.
    On direct appeal, Jamerson argued that the trial court
    erred in denying his Batson/Wheeler motions. Listing the
    reasons that the prosecutor proffered for striking each black
    juror and ultimately deferring to the trial court’s independent
    assessment of the prosecutor’s credibility in giving those
    justifications, the California Court of Appeal affirmed. It
    declined to conduct a comparative juror analysis because, at
    the time, California law prohibited a court from performing
    a comparative analysis for the first time on appeal. See
    People v. Johnson, 
    71 P.3d 270
    , 285 (Cal. 2003), rev’d,
    
    545 U.S. 162
     (2005). The California Supreme Court denied
    review.
    Jamerson then filed a petition for habeas corpus in the
    federal district court. The case was initially referred to a
    magistrate judge, who conducted a comparative juror
    analysis. In his report and recommendation analyzing
    Jamerson’s Batson/Wheeler claim, the magistrate judge
    concluded that comparative analysis undermined the
    prosecutor’s rationale for striking four of the prospective
    6                  JAMERSON V . RUNNELS
    black jurors. He urged the district court to grant habeas
    relief.
    In the interim, the Supreme Court issued its decision in
    Cullen v. Pinholster, 
    131 S. Ct. 1388
     (2011). Citing
    Pinholster, the State filed an objection to the magistrate
    judge’s initial report and recommendation because the
    magistrate judge had considered driver’s license photographs
    submitted by Jamerson, which showed the race of each venire
    member. The State argued that, after Pinholster, the
    consideration of such evidence was prohibited. The
    magistrate judge ordered additional briefing and issued a
    supplemental report and recommendation. The report
    concluded that Pinholster did not bar consideration of the
    photographs because they were not new evidence but were
    instead demonstrative exhibits designed to reconstruct facts
    visible to the state trial court.
    The district court adopted the report and recommendation
    of the magistrate judge in full and granted habeas relief. The
    State of California, through Jamerson’s prison warden, timely
    filed a notice of appeal.
    II
    The State asserts that the district court erred in granting
    Jamerson’s habeas petition, which alleged that the California
    courts improperly denied his Batson/Wheeler motions. In
    short, the State argues that the California courts were
    reasonable in determining that the prosecutor did not engage
    in purposeful discrimination, even in light of the comparative
    juror analysis this court is required to conduct. Any
    discussion of the State’s argument, therefore, must begin with
    an outline of the applicable Batson framework.
    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS                       7
    Batson challenges involve a three-step inquiry. Rice v.
    Collins, 
    546 U.S. 333
    , 338 (2006). First, the defendant must
    make a prima facie showing that the prosecutor has exercised
    a peremptory challenge based upon race. 
    Id.
     If this showing
    is made, the burden then shifts to the prosecutor to offer a
    race-neutral explanation for the strike. 
    Id.
     Finally, the court
    evaluates “the persuasiveness of the justification proffered by
    the prosecutor” to decide whether the defendant has shown
    purposeful discrimination. 
    Id.
     (internal quotation marks
    omitted). Ultimately, the defendant has the burden of
    persuading the court that the strike was racially motivated.
    
    Id.
     (citing Purkett v. Elem, 
    514 U.S. 765
    , 768 (1995) (per
    curiam)).
    The State and Jamerson disagree about the reasonableness
    of the state court’s analysis at Batson’s third step, where the
    trial court is acting as a “trier of fact,” determining whether
    the prosecutor’s race-neutral justification for the challenge is
    sufficiently convincing. Kesser v. Cambra, 
    465 F.3d 351
    ,
    359 (9th Cir. 2006) (en banc). “In deciding if the defendant
    has carried his burden of persuasion [at Batson’s third step],
    a court must undertake a sensitive inquiry into such
    circumstantial and direct evidence of intent as may be
    available.” Batson, 
    476 U.S. at 93
     (internal quotation marks
    omitted). The “totality of the relevant facts” includes the
    “prosecutor’s statements about his jury selection strategies
    and his explanations . . . for striking minority jurors” as well
    as “the characteristics of people he did not challenge.”
    Kesser, 
    465 F.3d at 360
    .
    As part of its evaluation of the prosecutor’s reasoning, the
    court must conduct a comparative juror analysis—that is, it
    must “compar[e] African American panelists who were struck
    with those non-African American panelists who were allowed
    8                  JAMERSON V . RUNNELS
    to serve.” Briggs v. Grounds, 
    682 F.3d 1165
    , 1170 (9th Cir.
    2012). Where the prosecutor’s reason for striking a black
    juror applies “just as well” to a non-black juror who is
    selected for the panel, “that is evidence tending to prove
    purposeful discrimination” that should be considered in
    assessing the genuineness of the prosecutor’s proffered
    explanations. Miller-El v. Dretke (Miller-El II), 
    545 U.S. 231
    , 241 (2005).
    When evaluating the persuasiveness of the prosecutor’s
    justifications at Batson’s third step, the trial judge is making
    a credibility determination. Although the prosecutor’s
    reasons for the strike must relate to the case to be tried, the
    court need not believe that “the stated reason represents a
    sound strategic judgment” to find the prosecutor’s rationale
    persuasive; rather, it need be convinced only that the
    justification “should be believed.” Kesser, 
    465 F.3d at 359
    (quoting Hernandez v. New York, 
    500 U.S. 352
    , 365 (1991)).
    Because “it is widely acknowledged that the trial judge is in
    the best position to evaluate the credibility of the prosecutor’s
    proffered justifications,” due deference must be accorded to
    the trial judge’s determination. Briggs, 682 F.3d at 1171.
    Indeed, even if “[r]easonable minds reviewing the record
    might disagree about the prosecutor’s credibility, . . . on
    habeas review that does not suffice to supersede the trial
    court’s credibility determination.” Rice, 
    546 U.S. at
    341–42.
    III
    Because the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty
    Act (AEDPA) at 
    28 U.S.C. § 2254
     governs our evaluation of
    the California court’s decision, we start our analysis by
    sketching the contours of its application to this case—a task
    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS                                   9
    that proves somewhat complex given the substantive law
    governing habeas petitions alleging Batson violations.
    We do not begin at the drawing board anew; some lines
    have already been etched by our prior precedent. A state
    court’s finding that the prosecutor did not engage in
    purposeful discrimination is reviewed under the deferential
    standard set forth in 
    28 U.S.C. § 2254
    (d)(2).1 See Briggs,
    682 F.3d at 1170; Cook v. LaMarque, 
    593 F.3d 810
    , 816 (9th
    Cir. 2010); Ali v. Hickman, 
    584 F.3d 1174
    , 1180–81 (9th Cir.
    2009). Thus, the state court’s decision will be upheld unless
    it was “based on an unreasonable determination of the facts
    in light of the evidence presented in the State court
    proceeding.” 
    28 U.S.C. § 2254
    (d)(2). Indeed, in evaluating
    habeas petitions premised on a Batson violation, “our
    standard is doubly deferential: unless the state appellate court
    was objectively unreasonable in concluding that a trial court’s
    1
    Jamerson argues that the California Court of Appeal decision should
    be evaluated under 
    28 U.S.C. § 2254
    (d)(1) and that this court should
    review his claim de novo because the state courts unreasonably applied
    clearly established federal law when they declined to conduct a
    comparative juror analysis. This court has already addressed and rejected
    that argument. See, e.g., Cook v. LaMarque, 
    593 F.3d 810
    , 816 & n.2 (9th
    Cir. 2010) (“[E]ven if the trial court and the California Court of Appeal
    did not engage in comparative juror analysis, where the relevant evidence
    is found in answers to juror questionnaires and a transcript of voir
    dire . . . [s]ection 2254(d)(2) . . . applies.” (second alteration in original)).
    Although the magistrate judge believed that an intra-circuit split existed
    on this question, he was mistaken. Compare 
    id.
     at 815–16 & n.2, and Ali,
    
    584 F.3d at
    1180–81 (affording deference under § 2254(d)(2) where the
    state courts reached Batson’s third step but erred in evaluating purposeful
    discrimination), with Johnson v. Finn, 
    665 F.3d 1063
    , 1068–69 (9th Cir.
    2011) (evaluating purposeful discrimination de novo where the California
    court applied the wrong legal standard at Batson’s first step and thus never
    reached the factual question of purposeful discrimination at Batson’s third
    step).
    10                    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS
    credibility determination was supported by substantial
    evidence, we must uphold it.” Briggs, 682 F.3d at 1170
    (citing Rice, 
    546 U.S. at
    338–42). This is because the
    question of discriminatory intent “largely will turn on
    evaluation of credibility” and “evaluation of the prosecutor’s
    state of mind based on demeanor and credibility lies
    peculiarly within a trial judge’s province.” Hernandez,
    
    500 U.S. at 365
     (internal quotation marks and citations
    omitted).
    This seemingly straightforward standard becomes
    convoluted, though, when it is paired with the requirement
    that we conduct, in the first instance, the comparative analysis
    that the state court declined to perform. Green v. LaMarque,
    
    532 F.3d 1028
    , 1031 (9th Cir. 2008) (holding that where a
    state court has failed to conduct a comparative juror analysis
    “[w]e must conduct that analysis de novo, rather than
    remanding for the state courts to do so”).2 It is clear in these
    cases that AEDPA deference still applies, and the state court
    decision cannot be upset unless it was based upon an
    “unreasonable determination of the facts.” See Cook,
    
    593 F.3d at
    816 & n.2; Green, 
    532 F.3d at 1031
    . In this class
    of cases, therefore, we must reconcile our duty to apply
    AEDPA deference to the state court’s factual determinations
    with the need to review the facts from a perspective not
    considered by the state courts.
    2
    Although prior opinions refer to conducting a comparative analysis of
    the stricken and selected jurors “de novo,” this choice of phrase is not
    meant to denote the applicable standard of review. See Green, 
    532 F.3d at 1031
    . Instead, it indicates that we should conduct the comparative
    analysis in the first instance, rather than remanding the case to the state
    courts to do so. See 
    id.
     To avoid confusion, we will use the phrase “in the
    first instance” when referencing our duty to conduct a comparative
    analysis that the state court failed to perform.
    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS                     11
    Combining these two requirements, we conclude that our
    evaluation of the state court’s disposition of Jamerson’s
    Batson claim should proceed in two steps. To begin, we must
    perform in the first instance the comparative analysis that the
    state court declined to pursue. Then, we must reevaluate the
    ultimate state decision in light of this comparative analysis
    and any other evidence tending to show purposeful
    discrimination to decide whether the state was unreasonable
    in finding the prosecutor’s race-neutral justifications to be
    genuine. In essence, we must assess how any circumstantial
    evidence of purposeful discrimination uncovered during
    comparative analysis alters the evidentiary balance and
    whether, considering the totality of the evidence, the state
    court’s credibility determination withstands our doubly
    deferential review.
    IV
    Applying this framework, we turn to the substance of the
    State’s arguments regarding the district court’s evaluation of
    Jamerson’s Batson claim.
    A
    As a threshold matter, we must decide whether Pinholster
    precludes us from considering the enlarged driver’s license
    photographs that Jamerson submitted to show the race of each
    venire member, as the State contends. The State vigorously
    opposes consideration of these photographs. It reasons that
    Pinholster must bar our examination of them because the
    California Court of Appeal “was limited to analyzing the
    transcripts of voir dire, which did not reveal the racial
    makeup of the entire jury venire.” Because one of the state
    courts did not know the race of each jury venire member and
    12                 JAMERSON V . RUNNELS
    because that state court was the one to issue the last reasoned
    opinion, the State argues that we, too, should operate under
    this same handicap.
    We are not persuaded that Pinholster bars consideration
    of evidence designed to reconstruct the racial composition of
    the jury venire. Where a habeas petitioner alleges a Batson
    violation, courts are required to conduct “side-by-side
    comparisons of [the] black venire panelists who were struck
    and white panelists allowed to serve” to evaluate the merits
    of the claim. Miller-El II, 545 U.S. at 241. If the state court
    has not performed this comparative juror analysis, we must
    do so in the first instance. Green, 
    532 F.3d at 1031
    . Without
    knowing the race of each venire member—a fact visible to
    the state trial court but obscured by the cold record on
    review—it would be impossible to discharge this duty.
    Reconciling these two lines of precedent, therefore, we
    conclude that Pinholster does not bar our consideration of
    evidence reconstructing the racial composition of a
    petitioner’s jury venire.
    A common sense reading of Pinholster leads us to this
    conclusion. There, the Supreme Court was concerned with
    preventing “habeas-by-sandbagging” and with promoting
    comity between state and federal courts by ensuring that the
    state’s consideration of a petitioner’s claims were the “main
    event” rather than a “tryout on the road” to federal court. See
    Pinholster, 
    131 S. Ct. at
    1398–1401 (internal citations
    omitted). The Court thus barred consideration of evidence
    adduced for the first time in a hearing in federal district court
    and limited review to the “record before the state court.” 
    Id. at 1398
    . When examining a petitioner’s habeas claim through
    the AEDPA lens, we “focus[] on what a state court knew and
    did,” as the Court emphasized, and thus consider “how the
    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS                              13
    [state court] decision confronts [the] set of facts that were
    before [it]” rather than how it should have confronted a new
    set of facts presented for the first time in federal court. 
    Id. at 1399
     (third alteration in original) (internal quotation marks
    omitted). It cautioned against faulting a state court for
    “unreasonably appl[ying] federal law to evidence it did not
    even know existed.” 
    Id.
     at 1399 n.3.
    Pinholster’s concerns are not implicated here. The
    driver’s license photographs depicting the racial composition
    of Jamerson’s jury venire do not constitute new evidence of
    which the state courts were completely unaware when
    deciding his Batson/Wheeler claims.           Instead, these
    photographs reconstruct physical attributes that were visible
    to the state court that originally ruled on Jamerson’s
    Batson/Wheeler motions. They represent a part of the set of
    facts that the state court evaluated when concluding that the
    prosecutor had genuine, race-neutral reasons for striking each
    juror.3
    The State attempts to obscure the common sense of the
    matter by stressing the fact that the state appellate court,
    which issued the last reasoned opinion in this case, did not
    know the race of every venire member. But nothing in
    Pinholster inherently limits this court’s review to evidence
    that the state appellate court—as opposed to the state trial
    3
    If Jamerson were offering the DMV records to establish a juror’s date
    of birth or address or to prove some other fact not obviously visible to the
    state court, this would, of course, present a different case. As we
    understand his argument, however, he offers the driver’s license
    photographs only to establish the racial composition of his venire.
    Because this fact was visible to the state court judge who initially ruled on
    Jamerson’s Batson/Wheeler motion, Pinholster does not bar our
    consideration of the evidence.
    14                 JAMERSON V . RUNNELS
    court—considered. See 
    id.
     at 1398–99. To the contrary,
    Pinholster itself precluded review only of evidence that was
    never revealed in any state court proceeding. 
    Id. at 1399
     (“It
    would be contrary to [AEDPA’s] purpose to allow a
    petitioner to overcome an adverse state-court decision with
    new evidence introduced in a federal habeas court and
    reviewed by that court in the first instance effectively de
    novo.”).
    Finally, we recognize that, if we were to conclude
    otherwise, we would have to read Pinholster’s evidentiary
    holding as implicitly overruling the substantive Batson
    requirements set forth in Miller-El II. For if Pinholster bars
    consideration of the photographs, examination of the state
    court’s disposition of Jamerson’s Batson claim—and, in
    particular, our ability to perform a comparative
    analysis—will be virtually impossible. We do not believe
    that the Supreme Court had this consequence in mind when
    it decided Pinholster. Therefore, we hold that Pinholster
    allows us to consider photographs that show the racial
    composition of a jury venire to the extent that those
    photographs merely reconstruct facts visible to the state trial
    court that ruled on the petitioner’s Batson challenge.
    B
    With that threshold matter resolved, we turn to the heart
    of the State’s contentions regarding Jamerson’s Batson claim.
    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS                             15
    Although Jamerson’s two Batson challenges in the state
    court proceedings encompassed eight black jurors,4 before
    this court the State and he disagree about whether the
    prosecutor lacked genuine, race-neutral reasons for striking
    only four of these jurors—Juror #4856, Juror #0970, Juror
    #0619, and Juror #3117D.5 After conducting a comparative
    analysis, the magistrate judge concluded that the state court
    unreasonably failed to find pretext in the prosecutor’s
    proffered explanations for striking these jurors. The State
    argues that this finding was in error because comparative
    analysis of each of the four stricken jurors does not reveal
    evidence of discriminatory intent sufficient to render the state
    court’s decision unreasonable.
    1
    Juror #4856, a black male, was an unemployed former
    custodian with no prior jury experience. At the beginning of
    voir dire, when the judge asked if anyone had “extraordinary
    circumstances that they believe[d] would prevent them from
    serving as a juror,” he explained to the court that he had
    suffered from “hepatitis” for about a year. He feared that
    serving on a jury might make him miss his monthly shots,
    although he “guess[ed]” that a proposed accommodation
    would suffice to alleviate his concern if he was selected. The
    4
    The prosecutor ultimately struck two other black jurors, but these
    jurors were not the subject of a Batson challenge and therefore are not
    considered in our analysis. Cf. Dias v. Sky Chefs, Inc., 
    948 F.2d 532
    , 534
    (9th Cir. 1991) (refusing to consider a Batson claim where the party failed
    to raise an objection before the venire was dismissed).
    5
    In any event, we also agree with the magistrate judge that the
    prosecutor’s reasons for excluding the other four jurors were credible and
    “borne out by the record.”
    16                 JAMERSON V . RUNNELS
    prosecutor exercised her eighth peremptory challenge to
    dismiss him. When asked to explain the reason for her
    challenge, the prosecutor stated:
    He said he had hepatitis, he is unemployed,
    and has no jury experience. I felt he would be
    too sympathetic to the defendant because the
    defendant had some kind of leg impairment
    and was walking with a cane or had a cane in
    the car and was walking.
    The trial judge found that the prosecutor had offered a “valid,
    independent reason[] which is a proper basis to excuse a
    juror.” Concluding that the trial court judge had “apparently
    independently assessed the prosecutor’s reasons for
    peremptorily challenging the jurors,” the appellate court
    deferred to his credibility assessment and affirmed.
    The parties appear to dispute the nature of the
    prosecutor’s reason for exercising this peremptory challenge.
    Jamerson argues, and the magistrate judge found, that the
    prosecutor relied only on the juror’s physical ailment and the
    potential that it might cause him to sympathize with the
    defendant in justifying her strike. The State seems to assert
    that the prosecutor also relied on his reluctance to serve. We
    conclude that Jamerson’s interpretation is a better reading of
    the prosecutor’s statement in response to the Batson motion
    and confine our analysis to deciding whether this stated
    reason can withstand comparative scrutiny. See Miller-El II,
    545 U.S. at 252.
    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS                     17
    Comparing Juror #4856 to the non-black jurors allowed
    to serve, we find no other juror who shared the characteristic
    that the prosecutor identified as problematic—that is, no other
    juror suffered from a physical ailment he or she considered an
    “extraordinary circumstance[].”         Comparative analysis
    therefore supports the justification proffered, as no seated
    juror possessed the trait that the prosecutor identified as the
    reason for the strike. Cook, 
    593 F.3d at 818
    . More
    importantly, comparative analysis adds nothing new to the
    factual equation that the state court already assessed and
    decided. Because the state trial judge was better situated to
    determine the genuineness and credibility of the prosecutor’s
    reasoning, and comparative analysis does not alter the
    evidentiary balance, we must take care to “defer to [his]
    credibility and factual findings.” Briggs, 682 F.3d at 1171.
    Although finding no circumstantial evidence of
    discriminatory intent through comparative analysis, the
    magistrate judge nonetheless held that the state court
    unreasonably concluded that the prosecutor’s stated reason
    for exercising this strike was genuine. He identified two
    bases for this conclusion, neither of which persuade us to find
    the state court’s ruling unreasonable under our doubly
    deferential standard of review.
    First, the magistrate judge concluded that excluding the
    juror on the basis of his physical ailment was “nonsensical”
    because “[p]hysical ailments simply were not relevant to this
    case, and the record is devoid of anything suggesting that
    suffering from hepatitis would make [the juror] inherently
    sympathetic toward petitioner.” The magistrate judge was
    correct in believing that the prosecutor’s stated reasons for
    striking a juror must be “relevant to the case.” See Green,
    
    532 F.3d at 1030
    . But when determining whether the reason
    18                 JAMERSON V . RUNNELS
    given in this instance was genuine, he applied the wrong
    standard for relevance. Relevance, in the context of
    exercising peremptory strikes, requires only that the
    prosecutor express a believable and articulable connection
    between the race-neutral characteristic identified and the
    desirability of a prospective juror. See Rice, 
    546 U.S. at 341
    (“It is not unreasonable to believe the prosecutor remained
    worried that a young person with few ties to the community
    might be less willing than an older, more permanent resident
    to impose a lengthy sentence for possessing a small amount
    of a controlled substance.”); see also Cook, 
    593 F.3d at
    817–18 (holding that the prosecutor’s justification for striking
    a juror was “not clearly pretextual” because “it is plausible
    that daily contact with lawyers would shape a person’s
    perception of a trial”). Concern that a juror might have
    reason to sympathize or identify with the defendant,
    regardless of whether the identifying feature relates to the
    merits of the case, is “relevant” under Batson. See, e.g., Rice,
    
    546 U.S. at 341
     (upholding age, single status, and lack of ties
    to the community as valid bases to exclude a juror in a drug
    case because they might make the juror more sympathetic to
    the defendant); Williams v. Rhoades, 
    354 F.3d 1101
    , 1109–10
    (9th Cir. 2004) (fear that a juror might identify with the
    defendant because both had young sons was a valid, race-
    neutral reason to exercise a peremptory strike); see also
    United States v. Brown, 
    560 F.3d 754
    , 763 (8th Cir. 2009)
    (upholding the strike of a prospective juror from a murder
    trial because both the juror and the defendant received public
    assistance and the juror might identify with the defendant on
    that basis). Thus, in this case, the prosecutor’s fear that Juror
    #4856 might identify with Jamerson because both suffered
    from a physical ailment qualifies as relevant in the sense
    Batson contemplates.
    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS                            19
    The magistrate judge’s related concern about “the record
    [being] devoid of anything suggesting that suffering from
    hepatitis would make [the juror] inherently sympathetic
    toward petitioner,” failed to take into account the proper
    burden of proof and to afford appropriate deference to the
    state courts. The prosecutor need not establish with evidence
    on the record that her voir dire instincts are objectively
    correct; instead, the defendant must show that the
    prosecutor’s reasons are not subjectively genuine. Rice,
    
    546 U.S. at
    338 (citing Purkett, 
    514 U.S. at 768
    ); Kesser,
    
    465 F.3d at 359
     (quoting Hernandez, 
    500 U.S. at 365
    ).
    Though hepatitis and a leg disability are not identical—or
    even closely related—medical conditions, both are permanent
    physical ailments that impact a person’s everyday life in a
    significant way.     The state appellate court was not
    unreasonable to believe that the prosecutor genuinely saw
    these permanent conditions as a shared experience between
    the defendant and the juror, which might give rise to empathy
    and bias, especially when viewed through our doubly
    deferential lens.
    Second, the magistrate judge believed that “[t]he fact that
    the prosecutor did not ask [the juror] any questions about his
    illness confirms that her reason was pretextual.” An
    examination of the record belies this conclusion. Throughout
    the entire voir dire process, the court—and not the
    attorneys—conducted the questioning of the jurors. The
    prosecutor’s failure to question a juror cannot be held against
    her when attorney questioning did not occur during voir dire.6
    6
    The magistrate judge proffered this same reason as one basis for
    rejecting the prosecutor’s justifications for striking Juror #0970, Juror
    #0619, and Juror #3117D, as well. W e conclude that he was incorrect in
    considering this as evidence of discriminatory intent in each instance.
    20                 JAMERSON V . RUNNELS
    See Miller-El II, 545 U.S. at 243–44 (finding that a
    prosecutor’s failure to question a juror further was evidence
    of a discriminatory motive where the prosecutor was
    personally questioning the jurors at length during voir dire).
    In sum, even though the prosecutor’s reason for excusing
    the juror may not have been compelling and “[r]easonable
    minds reviewing the record might disagree about the
    prosecutor’s credibility,” there is not sufficient evidence to
    “supersede the trial court’s credibility determination” under
    our doubly deferential standard of review. Rice, 
    546 U.S. at
    341–42. Thus, we conclude that the state was not
    unreasonable in finding that the prosecutor’s justification for
    challenging Juror #4856 was genuine.
    2
    Juror #0970, a black female, was a married social
    services employee with two adult daughters. In the 1980s,
    her brother was convicted of arson and possession of drugs.
    He served time for those offenses. Although she had not
    attended any of the proceedings, she believed that her brother
    was treated “fairly.” She also indicated that she “had a
    brother [who] was killed in San Bernardino in 1989.” No one
    was arrested or charged with the crime. In response to a
    question about whether the investigation was handled
    adequately, she stated, “Adequately. They never found any
    witnesses, and I am not sure exactly what occurred.” The
    prosecutor exercised her second peremptory challenge to
    dismiss this juror. When asked to explain the reason for her
    challenge, the prosecutor stated:
    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS                       21
    She also has brothers serving time in prison
    and another brother killed in 1991. No charge
    because nobody was found.            For my
    witnesses, I felt she may have some
    reservation about the police and how they
    were actively or not actively looking because
    this case deals with somewhat locating
    witnesses. I would have reservations about
    her.
    As with Juror #4856, the trial court found the prosecutor’s
    stated reasons “valid” and “independent.” Based in large part
    on the credibility finding of the trial court, the court of appeal
    affirmed.
    The prosecutor proffered two reasons for striking Juror
    #0970: (1) she had a brother who served time in prison for
    arson and drug crimes, and (2) her other brother was the
    victim of an unsolved murder. Comparing this juror to other
    jurors who shared these same characteristics, the State argues
    that comparative analysis does not undermine the rationale
    that the prosecutor proffered, contrary to the conclusion of the
    magistrate judge.
    The State first argues that comparative analysis does not
    undercut the prosecutor’s reliance on the conviction of this
    juror’s brother. Jamerson identifies three non-black jurors
    who were allowed to remain on the panel and who also knew
    someone that was associated with a crime—Juror #2918,
    Juror #6375, and Juror #4241. He asserts that, in light of the
    prosecutor’s failure to strike these jurors, comparative
    analysis does undermine the prosecutor’s first stated
    justification. Upon close review, however, it appears that
    Jamerson cast his comparative net too broadly. The
    22                JAMERSON V . RUNNELS
    purported parallels between these jurors and Juror #0970
    provide, at best, weak evidence of a discriminatory motive,
    insufficient to render the state court’s conclusions
    unreasonable.
    At the outset, we note that Juror #4241 cannot properly
    be classified as similarly situated to Juror #0970 because the
    prosecutor was unaware of his sister’s conviction. After a
    new group of jurors—including Juror #4241—answered a set
    of form questions, the prosecutor requested a sidebar. The
    following dialogue then took place:
    [Prosecutor]: I think I missed some
    information on juror [#4241]. Did he say his
    sister was arrested?
    Court: Say what?
    [Prosecutor]: Did he say his sister was
    arrested?
    [Defense]: No. He said his house was
    burglarized and he went to court to testify.
    [Prosecutor]: Oh, okay. So he never said
    anything about drug possession? I don’t
    know where I picked that up.
    Court: Number [4241]? No.
    [Prosecutor]: Okay.
    Because the prosecutor was assured that Juror #4241’s sister
    had not been arrested for a crime, he was not similarly
    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS                     23
    situated to Juror #0970 from the prosecutor’s perspective.
    Failure to strike him, therefore, cannot be considered
    evidence of a discriminatory purpose. Cf. Miller El II,
    545 U.S. at 242–45 (discrediting the prosecutor’s proffered
    explanation where written responses of white jurors allowed
    to serve were the same as written responses of a black juror
    who was struck). Indeed, in calling a sidebar to clarify Juror
    #4241’s response about his sister’s conviction, the prosecutor
    actually increased the credibility of her justification for
    striking Juror #0970, as she showed a special interest in the
    prior conviction of a non-black juror’s close relative. Cf. id.
    at 244 (holding that a prosecutor “would have cleared up any
    misunderstanding by asking further questions” if he truly
    considered a race-neutral characteristic grounds for a
    peremptory strike).
    Turning to Jurors #2918 and #6375, a complete side-by-
    side comparison shows that the parallels between these jurors
    and Juror #0970 are relatively weak and offer little evidence
    of a discriminatory motive. The prosecutor consistently
    struck both black and non-black jurors who, like Juror #0970,
    had close relatives who committed serious crimes and were
    incarcerated for them. Before striking Juror #0970, the
    prosecutor struck Juror #6309, a non-black woman whose son
    was serving time in prison for kidnaping and robbery. Later,
    the prosecutor also struck Juror #6207, a non-black woman
    whose husband was incarcerated and about to be tried for
    felony evading. These non-black jurors’ situations are more
    analogous to the situation of Juror #0970 than Juror #6375’s,
    whose “daughter ha[d] a friend who is incarcerated,” and
    Juror #2918’s, whose brother was merely arrested for a
    possible DUI six or seven years prior.
    24                 JAMERSON V . RUNNELS
    By exercising peremptory strikes against non-black jurors
    who had close relatives incarcerated, therefore, the prosecutor
    evidenced a sincere concern for the same problematic trait
    she identified in Juror #0970; her failure to exercise
    peremptory strikes against other non-black jurors who shared
    weak parallels with this juror, although prompting us to
    scrutinize her actions more carefully, ultimately does little to
    undermine the stated justification. See Cook, 
    593 F.3d at 817
    .
    It certainly does not convince us that the state court was
    unreasonable in crediting the prosecutor’s rationale under our
    doubly deferential standard of review.
    Moving to the prosecutor’s second stated reason for
    striking this juror—that her other brother’s murder was never
    solved—the State argues that the California courts were
    reasonable in crediting this rationale. Jamerson counters by
    again identifying three non-black jurors who were allowed to
    serve despite purportedly sharing the same background: Juror
    #2918, Juror #6375, and Juror #3136. Again, however, a full
    comparative analysis reveals little to undercut the state
    court’s conclusion that the prosecutor was applying genuine,
    race-neutral standards. During voir dire, the prosecutor
    repeatedly challenged jurors of all races who had an
    experience with an unsolved violent crime, but retained jurors
    who were the victims of lesser crimes. This pattern is first
    evident in the prosecutor’s disparate treatment of Juror #0970
    and Juror #6824, both black prospective jurors. While the
    prosecutor struck Juror #0970, whose brother’s murder had
    not been solved, the prosecutor accepted Juror #6824, who
    was the victim of an unsolved home burglary. The
    prosecutor’s treatment of non-black jurors followed the same
    trend. The prosecutor struck Juror #3605, a white juror
    whose friend was shot during an unsolved robbery in
    Compton, and Juror #2333, a white juror who was the victim
    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS                            25
    of an unsolved robbery at gunpoint. But the prosecutor
    accepted Juror #3136, who had $200 stolen in New Orleans,
    and Juror #2918, who was the victim of a car theft and home
    burglary.
    Even more telling, unlike any of the other jurors, Juror
    #0970 specifically volunteered that the local police “never
    found any witnesses” to her brother’s murder—raising the
    exact concern of the prosecutor in rooting out victims of
    unsolved crimes. Although the prosecutor’s failure to strike
    Juror #3136 arouses some suspicion about her reasoning, as
    Juror #3136 expressed a stronger feeling that law
    enforcement was “pretty lax” when investigating his theft, the
    relevant similarities between these jurors, and thus the
    evidence of a discriminatory motive, are faint as Juror #3136
    emphasized that the New Orleans police department
    conducted the investigation into his theft and that locally “it
    would be handled differently.”
    In short, even though jurors need not be “exactly
    identical” to infer pretext from a comparative pattern of
    strikes, Miller-El II, 545 U.S. at 247 n.6, the evidence in this
    instance of weak parallels between Juror #0970 and other
    jurors who remained on the panel does not convince us that
    the state court was unreasonable in finding the prosecutor’s
    justifications believable. Consequently, under our doubly
    deferential standard of review, Jamerson’s challenge to Juror
    #0970 does not warrant habeas relief.7 See Rice, 
    546 U.S. at
    7
    The magistrate judge’s finding of discriminatory intent rested on two
    other grounds, neither of which is sufficient to raise an inference of
    discriminatory motive. For the sake of completeness, however, we
    explain our rejection of his reasoning.
    26                     JAMERSON V . RUNNELS
    First, the magistrate judge faulted the prosecutor for “incorrectly
    stat[ing] that [Juror #0970] has ‘brothers’ serving time in prison, when she
    actually had said that ‘a brother’ had been in prison.”
    According to the Supreme Court in Miller-El II, the
    mischaracterization of a potential juror’s testimony weighs against a
    prosecutor’s credibility. Miller-El II, 545 U.S. at 243–44. But as the
    Supreme Court clarified in Rice, “seizing on what can plausibly be viewed
    as an innocent transposition makes little headway toward the conclusion
    that the prosecutor’s explanation was clearly not credible.” Rice, 
    546 U.S. at 340
    .
    In these two cases, the Supreme Court has thus drawn a fine
    distinction between a prosecutor’s false statement that creates a new basis
    for a strike that otherwise would not exist and a prosecutor’s inaccurate
    statement that does nothing to change the basis for the strike. Compare
    Miller-El II, 545 U.S. at 243–44 (claiming that a juror indicated he would
    not vote for the death penalty when the juror clearly specified that he
    would vote for it), with Rice, 
    546 U.S. at 340
     (miscounting the number of
    jurors who were dismissed based on their youth but correctly reporting
    that the challenged juror was youthful). In this case, the prosecutor’s
    mistaken belief that Juror #0970 had “brothers serving time” rather than
    a brother who served time falls on the Rice side of the line. W hether or
    not the juror had one brother or two brothers incarcerated, the same
    justification for the strike remained— the juror might have an unfavorable
    view of the system based upon a family member’s involvement in it.
    Thus, the prosecutor’s misspeak offers no proof of discriminatory intent.
    See Rice, 
    546 U.S. at 340
    .
    Second, the magistrate judge found that “[t]he prosecutor’s professed
    concern about [Juror #0970]’s brother’s murder is belied by the fact that
    she did not ask her a single question about it . . . .”
    This finding is wrong for two reasons. For one, as noted above,
    neither the prosecutor nor the defense questioned any of the jurors during
    voir dire, and the prosecutor cannot be faulted for the voir dire practices
    of the trial court in this case. Additionally, as previously discussed, the
    prosecutor specifically requested a sidebar and clarification when she
    believed that she had missed information about a non-black juror’s
    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS                             27
    341–42.
    3
    Juror #0619, a black female, was a married critical care
    nurse. She had a brother who was serving time on a narcotics
    charge and probation violation at the time of trial. She had
    not attended any court proceedings and had “no opinion” on
    whether her brother was treated fairly. She was also herself
    the victim of a “serious hit and run accident.” Although a
    suspect was arrested and charged with the crime, “they were
    sent back to Mexico” rather than tried and imprisoned. Thus,
    in response to a question about whether the local police
    performed adequately in her case, she stated “I—you know,
    I wouldn’t think so because the person was sent back, and
    that was it . . . . [a]nd then I was told at the time . . . [when] I
    was in a very critical state, that they were probably back [in
    the United States].” She thus concluded that “it wasn’t
    handled properly,” someone in local law enforcement was
    “lax,” and “someone just dropped the ball.” The prosecutor
    exercised her third peremptory strike to excuse this juror.
    When asked to explain the reason for her challenge, the
    prosecutor stated:
    That is based on the fact that she had brothers
    doing time for drugs, and she was a victim of
    a hit and run. And she expressed some
    reservation that somehow—how did she say
    it?—that the police handled it adequately, but
    relative’s prior experience in the criminal system, thus supporting the
    claim that this information was important to her voir dire decision-making.
    Therefore, this finding also fails to support an inference of a
    discriminatory motive.
    28                    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS
    that [the] person was gone to Mexico, and she
    was somehow notified later. But I got the
    impression that she wasn’t too happy with the
    result.
    The trial judge held that this was a “valid, independent
    reason[] which is a proper basis to excuse a juror.”
    Reviewing this finding on appeal, the California court upheld
    the trial judge’s determination that the prosecutor’s
    justification was genuine.
    As with Juror #0970, the prosecutor identified two
    reasons for striking Juror #0619: (1) she had a brother8 who
    was incarcerated for narcotics offenses, and (2) she was the
    victim of a hit-and-run accident that she believed local law
    enforcement had not properly handled. Because the
    prosecutor identified the same basic problematic
    characteristics in striking Juror #0619 as she did in striking
    Juror #0970, the comparative analysis for these two jurors is
    virtually identical and, like with Juror #0970, this analysis
    fails to undercut the genuineness of the justifications
    proffered for striking her.
    To avoid unnecessary repetition, therefore, we note that,
    as explained at length above, the prosecutor systematically
    excluded jurors, like Juror #0619, who had a close relative in
    prison for a crime and who had a prior experience with a
    violent personal crime that remained unresolved, regardless
    8
    Although the magistrate judge again made much of the prosecutor’s
    mistaken statement that this juror had “brothers” rather than a brother in
    prison, this mistaken statement did not create a basis for a strike that
    otherwise would not exist and thus falls into the category of harmless
    misspeaks, as discussed above. See Rice, 
    546 U.S. at 340
    .
    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS                           29
    of the juror’s race. In fact, Juror #0619 in many ways
    presented a stronger case for a strike than the similarly
    situated non-black jurors discussed above because she was
    personally the victim of a “serious” crime, was “in [a] very
    critical state” for “a long period of time,” and expressly stated
    that she felt her investigation “wasn’t handled properly” by
    local law enforcement.
    In light of this, the state court was not unreasonable in
    concluding that the prosecutor did not have a discriminatory
    motive when she challenged Juror #0619. See 
    id.
    4
    Juror #3117D9 was a married black female who lived in
    Los Angeles and worked for the U.S. postal service. The
    prosecutor exercised her tenth peremptory strike to remove
    her from the panel. When asked to give the reason for her
    strike, the prosecutor explained:
    She was a postal worker. I had a terrible
    personal experience with a postal worker on
    the jury. And I think that was the basis. . . . I
    just have terrible experiences with postal
    workers.
    The trial judge concluded: “The prosecutor in good faith is
    giving reasons. Whereas, a person being a postal worker in
    itself would not necessarily exclude someone, I think based
    upon the entire considerations, including facial expression[s]
    9
    Because two jurors received the juror designation #3117, we have
    appended the first letter of their last names to their juror numbers to
    differentiate between them.
    30                 JAMERSON V . RUNNELS
    and other things that I observed, I think it is proper.”
    Reciting these same facts, the California Court of Appeal
    found that the trial court “ma[d]e a sincere and reasoned
    effort to evaluate the credibility of the prosecutor’s
    nondiscriminatory justifications” and upheld its ruling.
    Like with Juror #4856, the parties disagree about the
    proper characterization of the reasons proffered for excusing
    Juror #3117D. Jamerson argues that this court may only
    consider the postal worker justification without reference to
    the trial court’s demeanor observations. The State, by
    contrast, contends that the prosecutor’s justification and the
    trial court’s demeanor observations are inherently
    intertwined.
    Although both readings are potentially a reasonable
    interpretation of the voir dire transcript, we are required to
    give deference to the state court’s decision on habeas review.
    In that vein, we conclude that the trial judge’s demeanor
    observations—including the facial expressions of the
    prosecutor as she gave her justification and the interactions
    between the prosecutor and the juror—were inherently
    intertwined with the justification proffered; they affirmed that
    the prosecutor had good cause to suspect that she would have
    a “terrible personal experience” with Juror #3117D like she
    had suffered with other postal workers in the past. Thus, we
    consider whether the prosecutor’s justification, in light of the
    trial court’s demeanor observations, withstands comparative
    analysis as the State contends it does.
    Because the trial judge here found that the prosecutor’s
    reasons were made in “good faith” based upon “the entire
    considerations, including facial expression[s] and other things
    that I observed,” we must take special care to afford this
    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS                       31
    demeanor and credibility finding double deference. Briggs,
    682 F.3d at 1170; see also Hernandez, 
    500 U.S. at 365
    . This
    finding cannot be overturned unless a comparative analysis
    shows that “the state appellate court was objectively
    unreasonable in concluding that a trial court’s credibility
    determination was supported by substantial evidence . . . .”
    Briggs, 682 F.3d at 1170.
    Of course, comparative analysis may raise some doubt
    about the sincerity of the prosecutor’s reasons for striking this
    juror because the prosecutor did accept Juror #3117B who
    was also a postal worker. But upon closer review, this
    comparative analysis does little to undercut the credibility of
    the prosecutor’s earlier assertion that she preferred not to
    have postal workers on the jury for at least two reasons. First,
    Juror #3117B was black, like Juror #3117D, and thus the
    comparison does not uncover any circumstantial evidence of
    a discriminatory motive. See Cook, 
    593 F.3d at 818
     (“Juror
    2 is also African American and therefore provides a weak
    basis for comparison.” (citing Miller-El II, 545 U.S. at 241)).
    And second, the prosecutor accepted Juror #3117B, who was
    the last member of the venire, with reluctance only after
    calling a sidebar and learning that the court could not “get[]
    any more jurors today.” Therefore, comparative analysis
    alone does not show that the state appellate court was
    unreasonable in concluding that the trial court’s credibility
    finding was supported by substantial evidence.
    The magistrate judge rejected Juror #3117D’s occupation
    as a genuine, race-neutral reason for excluding her from the
    jury because her job had no “evident relation” to Jamerson’s
    case. In doing so, the magistrate judge again applied the
    wrong relevance standard. See Rice, 
    546 U.S. at 341
    . A
    prosecutor may strike a potential juror on the basis of his or
    32                 JAMERSON V . RUNNELS
    her occupation if the prosecutor can state a genuine, race-
    neutral reason for believing that the occupation would make
    the juror unfavorable. Cook, 
    593 F.3d at 818
     (upholding the
    strike of a juror who worked at a law firm because it is
    “plausible that daily contact with lawyers would shape a
    person’s perception of a trial”); 
    id. at 821
     (finding the strike
    of a homemaker valid because “the prosecutor’s conviction
    that homemakers have insufficient social skills to be good
    jurors” seemed “sincere”). Here, the prosecutor stated that
    she previously had a “terrible personal experience” with a
    postal worker on a jury and, based on his demeanor
    observations, the trial judge found her credible; under our
    doubly deferential standard of review, we find no reason to
    question this conclusion.
    Although we do not believe that the prosecutor’s stated
    reason for excusing Juror #3117D was overwhelmingly
    persuasive, we also are not convinced that the state court was
    unreasonable in crediting her explanation as genuine,
    particularly affording the double deference due to the state
    trial court’s ruling. See Rice, 
    546 U.S. at 338
    .
    5
    The State asserts that cumulative evidence similarly does
    not support a finding that the California courts unreasonably
    rejected Jamerson’s Batson challenges. Therefore, in
    addition to determining whether the prosecutor acted with a
    discriminatory motive in striking the four individual jurors
    discussed above, we also must evaluate whether cumulative
    evidence supports Jamerson’s Batson claim.
    Although the sheer number of prosecutorial challenges to
    black jurors in this case “unquestionably calls for a searching
    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS                     33
    inquiry,” it does not automatically warrant the conclusion that
    the prosecutor was engaged in purposeful discrimination. See
    Cook, 
    593 F.3d at
    825–26 (concluding that the evidence
    cumulatively did not support a finding of purposeful
    discrimination even though the prosecution struck seven
    black jurors); see also Williams, 
    354 F.3d at
    1107–08 (noting
    that racial discrimination “is easy to find even in its
    absence.”).
    The prosecutor excused ten of the twelve black venire
    members during the course of voir dire even though only
    twelve of the forty-three prospective jurors were black. But
    looking beyond these numbers to the traits and attributes of
    each individual juror, we find that the state was not
    unreasonable in concluding that the prosecutor’s race-neutral
    reasons for her strikes provided a better explanation of her
    conduct than race. See Cook, 
    593 F.3d at
    825–26 (finding no
    cumulative evidence of discriminatory motive where the
    prosecutor was consistent in applying the asserted race-
    neutral justifications).
    For example, the prosecutor struck three black jurors and
    two non-black jurors who had a close relative incarcerated for
    a serious crime. She struck two black jurors and one non-
    black juror who had been incarcerated themselves. She
    struck three black jurors and two non-black jurors who had
    been victims of violent crimes that law enforcement had not
    fully or properly resolved. And she struck any venire
    member who was previously on a hung jury. Moreover, the
    prosecutor never attempted to strike Juror #6824, a black
    member of the venire who was seated on the panel throughout
    voir dire. If her motives were discriminatory, she had plenty
    of opportunities to remove this juror. Nonetheless, she never
    struck Juror #6824, presumably because Juror #6824
    34                JAMERSON V . RUNNELS
    presented none of the characteristics that the prosecutor
    identified as warranting the exercise of a peremptory strike.
    Finally, the fact that the form set of questions asked of
    each juror was targeted at the characteristics the prosecutor
    consistently identified as important further bolsters her
    credibility. Cf. Cook, 
    593 F.3d at 825
     (finding no cumulative
    evidence of discrimination where the prosecutor was
    “consistent in his questioning of prospective jurors”).
    Thus, our cumulative review of the prosecutor’s conduct
    does not persuade us that the state court was unreasonable in
    upholding her race-neutral justifications for the strikes.
    V
    Overall, the evidence presented, including comparative
    analysis, does not persuade us that habeas relief is warranted
    under our doubly deferential standard of review. Although
    some of the prosecutor’s justifications appear thin at first
    glance, a more searching review reveals nothing in the record
    suggesting that the state court unreasonably found these
    reasons to be genuine and not pretextual. See Briggs,
    682 F.3d at 1170 (“[W]e must defer to the California court’s
    conclusion that there was no discrimination unless that
    conclusion ‘was based on an unreasonable determination of
    the facts . . . .’”). Thus, even though “[r]easonable minds
    reviewing the record might disagree about the prosecutor’s
    credibility,” the evidence presented does not “suffice to
    supersede the trial court’s credibility determination.” Rice,
    
    546 U.S. at
    341–42. Jamerson’s habeas petition should have
    been denied.
    JAMERSON V . RUNNELS                     35
    The decision of the district court granting habeas relief is
    accordingly REVERSED.