Maurice Tirrell Williams v. Commonwealth of Virginia ( 2024 )

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
PUBLISHED
Present: Chief Judge Decker, Judges Malveaux and Raphael
Argued by videoconference
MAURICE TIRRELL WILLIAMS
OPINION BY
v. Record No. 1441-23-1 CHIEF JUDGE MARLA GRAFF DECKER
NOVEMBER 19, 2024
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF ACCOMACK COUNTY
W. Revell Lewis, III, Judge
Charles E. Haden for appellant.
Brooke I. Hettig, Assistant Attorney General (Jason S. Miyares,
Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.
Maurice Tirrell Williams appeals his jury-trial conviction for the felony offense of eluding a
law-enforcement officer in violation of Code § 46.2-817. He contests the trial court’s denial of his
challenge to one of the prosecutor’s peremptory strikes. He also argues that the trial court erred
by denying his motion to strike the Commonwealth’s evidence because it was sufficient to prove
only misdemeanor, not felony, eluding. We hold the trial court did not err and affirm the
challenged conviction.
BACKGROUND1
I. Attempted Traffic Stop and Police Chase
On the afternoon of Friday, December 11, 2020, Lieutenant Steve Lewis of the
Northampton County Sheriff’s Office and Sergeant Joshua Marsh of the Accomack County
Sheriff’s Office were driving an unmarked Dodge Charger in Accomack County.2 Shortly
before 1:00 p.m., Lewis activated his emergency lights and siren and attempted to initiate a
traffic stop of Williams, who was driving a silver Chevrolet Impala.3 Williams signaled and
pulled his vehicle onto the shoulder. Before Lewis or Marsh got out of the Charger, however,
Williams “took off,” and the officers pursued him.
Lieutenant Lewis moved into the left lane to try to get in front of the fleeing car and stop
it. In response, Williams crossed “over to [the Charger’s] lane driving down the shoulder.” As a
result, Lewis abandoned the attempt and “proceeded [on] a safe basis.”
Williams “ran through [a] stop sign,” “passed a few cars,” and “went onto [a] curb” with
a sidewalk to get around a vehicle in a traffic circle. As Lewis continued the pursuit, Williams
“ran [a second] stop sign.” He then changed lanes and “cut over to [an] . . . intersection.” In
doing so, Williams “veered . . . in front of” an SUV. The SUV hit the rear of the Impala,
damaging both vehicles.
1
On appellate review, we view the evidence and “all fair inferences” flowing from it “in
the ‘light most favorable’ to the Commonwealth, the prevailing party” below. Walker v.
Commonwealth, 79 Va. App. 737, 740-41 (2024) (first quoting Commonwealth v. Cady, 300 Va.
325, 329 (2021); and then quoting Hammer v. Commonwealth, 74 Va. App. 225, 231 (2022))
(sufficiency); see Griffin v. Commonwealth, 78 Va. App. 116, 124 (2023) (challenge to a
peremptory strike).
Lewis testified that he was “sworn to operate . . . as a law enforcement officer” in both
2
Northampton and Accomack Counties, as well as with the Virginia State Police.
3
The lawfulness of the stop is not challenged on appeal.
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Williams proceeded on, with the Charger in pursuit, reaching speeds of one hundred
miles per hour on a few of the straighter roads in areas with other traffic and a few residences.
Williams’s Impala then traversed a steep, rough road and drove fifty to sixty miles per hour into
a heavily residential area. As the two vehicles approached an “unusually busy” twenty-five
mile-per-hour zone with businesses and pedestrians, the police Charger narrowly avoided a
collision with another car while it continued the pursuit.
When Williams again approached the highway, Lieutenant Lewis succeeded in stopping
him briefly, but Williams then “swerved out and shot over into all kinds of traffic and started to
pass” the Charger. While Lewis continued his pursuit, both cars were “in the oncoming traffic
lane,” and the Impala “grazed the back of [the Charger’s] bumper.” Lewis braked, the Impala
came up beside him, and the two cars “bumped” again.
Lewis took steps to end the pursuit once and for all due to “oncoming traffic.” He
“veered into” the Impala as it “dr[o]v[e] into” the Charger. The Impala “went up on[to] the
curb,” “spun around,” and stopped. The pursuit lasted a total of about eighteen minutes, and
damages to Lieutenant Lewis’s Charger totaled $4,000.
II. Williams’s Charges and Trial
Williams was tried by a jury on a felony charge of eluding a police officer and a
misdemeanor charge of obstructing justice.
A. Jury Selection
During jury selection, following the parties’ exercise of their peremptory strikes, defense
counsel lodged an objection alleging racial discrimination. She suggested that “no testimony or
responses [were] elicited from” two of the stricken jurors. She asked the prosecutor “to state his
reason for striking two [B]lack females[,] as the defendant is a [B]lack male[ and t]here is very
little in the jury pool of his race to begin with.”
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The prosecutor stated that he struck the first juror, identified in the record as Juror 12,
“because she did not seem as alert and responsive.” He also said he considered “her young age,”
explaining he was worried she might not “take her duties serious[ly].” As to the second juror,
identified as Juror 14, the prosecutor explained that he struck her due to her “body language.”
He emphasized that “a[nother] female sitting right in front of her . . . was smiling and nodding”
but Juror 14 “seemed to be grimacing and . . . sitting there stoic.” The prosecutor expressed
“concern that she was not going to be responsive to th[e trial] process.”
The trial court interrupted the prosecutor and ruled on the two challenges without
explaining the basis for either one. It disallowed the prosecutor’s peremptory strike of Juror 12,
retaining her as a juror. The court permitted the prosecutor’s peremptory strike of Juror 14,
resulting in her dismissal. Defense counsel did not lodge any additional objection to the trial
court’s ruling allowing the dismissal of Juror 14.
B. Motions to Strike
At the close of the Commonwealth’s case-in-chief, defense counsel made a motion to
strike the evidence, suggesting that the felony eluding charge should be reduced to misdemeanor
eluding. Counsel noted that the stop signs he ran involved right turns, his speeding occurred
only on “rural roads,” and the collisions “were not major” ones. The prosecutor argued
Williams’s “high speeds” occurred in occupied areas and noted that two vehicles were hit during
his flight, including the pursuing officer’s vehicle. He submitted that this evidence proved “the
element of the added danger.”
The trial court denied the motion to strike. The judge clarified that the evidence proved
that Williams drove one hundred miles per hour in not one but two locations. The judge added
that the fact that traffic laws permit “a right turn on a stop sign” did not obviate the need to stop
before turning, which Williams did not do.
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Defense counsel presented no evidence and renewed her motion to strike on the eluding
charge on the same grounds. The court again denied the motion, stating that “the case need[ed]
to be submitted to [the] jury.”
C. Jury Instructions, Conviction, and Sentence
The jury, which was instructed on both felony and misdemeanor eluding, found Williams
guilty of the felony offense. It found him not guilty of obstruction of justice. He was sentenced
to the maximum time of five years in prison with no time suspended, with an additional term of
two years that was suspended on condition of the successful completion of a period of post-
release supervision. See Code §§ 18.2-10, 46.2-817(B).
ANALYSIS
Williams presents two assignments of error. First, he contests the trial court’s rejection
of his challenge to the prosecutor’s use of a peremptory strike. Second, he argues that the
evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for the felony rather than misdemeanor
offense of eluding a law-enforcement officer.
I. Batson Challenge to the Prosecutor’s Peremptory Strike
Williams contends the trial court erred by rejecting his challenge to the prosecutor’s use of a
peremptory strike to remove Juror 14 from the venire panel.
As recognized in Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 85-86 (1986), a defendant “ha[s] the
right,” secured by the United States Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection, “to be tried by a
jury whose members are selected pursuant to non-discriminatory criteria.” See also Stevens v.
Commonwealth, 70 Va. App. 280, 297 (2019) (explaining that Batson challenges can include
claims of race and gender discrimination). Batson sets out a sequential, three-step process for
determining whether purposeful discrimination in the selection of the jurors has occurred. Bethea v.
Commonwealth, 297 Va. 730, 748 (2019). First, “the opponent of the strike ‘must make out a
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prima facie case’ of purposeful discrimination.” Id. (quoting Johnson v. California, 545 U.S. 162,
168 (2005)). Second, in the case of a racial-bias challenge by a criminal defendant, the burden of
production shifts to the prosecution “‘to explain . . . the racial exclusion’ by offering [a] permissible
race-neutral justification[] for the strike[].” Id. (quoting Johnson, 545 U.S. at 168). Third, “if a
race-neutral explanation is tendered, the trial court must . . . decide whether the opponent of the
strike has proved purposeful racial discrimination.” Id. (quoting Johnson, 545 U.S. at 168). Only
during the third step does the trial court assess the credibility or “persuasiveness of the justification.”
Id. at 749 (quoting Johnson, 545 U.S. at 171). This “three-step architecture of Batson presumes the
good faith of prosecutors,” and throughout the process, the defendant bears “the ‘burden of
persuasion’ to ‘prove the existence of purposeful discrimination.’” Id. at 748 (emphasis added)
(quoting Johnson, 545 U.S. at 170-71).
Different standards of review apply to the different steps of the Batson analysis relevant in
this case. Under step two, the appellate court “must determine whether, assuming the proffered
reasons for the peremptory challenges are true, [they] violate the Equal Protection Clause as a
matter of law.” Barksdale v. Commonwealth, 17 Va. App. 456, 459 (1993) (en banc) (emphasis
added) (quoting Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 359 (1991) (plurality opinion)).
Consequently, this Court reviews a step-two determination de novo. See Henderson v.
Commonwealth, 285 Va. 318, 329 (2013) (recognizing that questions of law are reviewed de novo
on appeal).
Under step three, by contrast, the appellate court will reverse only if the decision was
“clearly erroneous” or “plainly wrong.” Stevens, 70 Va. App. at 302 (quoting Avent v.
Commonwealth, 279 Va. 175, 196 (2010)); see McGee v. Commonwealth, 25 Va. App. 193, 198 n.1
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(1997) (en banc).4 This is so because whether the opponent of the strike has “establishe[d]
purposeful discrimination ‘turns on [the trial court’s] factual determinations.’” Stevens, 70 Va. App.
at 302 (quoting Foster v. Chatman, 578 U.S. 488, 500 (2016)). In other words, “Batson’s treatment
of intent to discriminate [i]s a pure issue of fact.” Bethea, 297 Va. at 756 (alteration in original)
(quoting Hernandez, 500 U.S. at 364). The trial court, therefore, “has a pivotal role in evaluating
. . . not only whether the prosecutor’s demeanor belie[d] a discriminatory intent, but also whether
the juror’s demeanor c[ould] credibly be said to have exhibited the [prosecutor’s stated] basis for the
strike.” Stevens, 70 Va. App. at 302 (first alteration in original) (quoting Snyder v. Louisiana, 552
U.S. 472, 477 (2008)). In short, the trial court’s findings on these subjects are “entitled to ‘great
deference.’” Bethea, 297 Va. at 756 (quoting Davis v. Ayala, 576 U.S. 257, 271 (2015)). It is
within this legal framework that the Court analyzes Williams’s claim of error under Batson.
Williams contends that the prosecutor’s stated basis for striking Juror 14 from the venire
panel—her “body language”—was “plainly inadequate” as a race-neutral reason. He further
suggests that, even if the stated basis was race-neutral, it was “pretext[ual]” and not “credible.”
Williams argues “the real reason for the strike was that [Juror 14] was one of the few members of
the venire panel of the same race as [him],” a “no[n-]race-neutral” reason and therefore an
4
Virginia’s appellate courts have implicitly equated the term “clear error,” which is
“‘derived from Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure[] and applies when reviewing
questions of fact’ in the federal system,” with the term “plainly wrong,” the standard under which
findings of fact are reviewed in Virginia’s appellate courts. McGee, 25 Va. App. at 198 n.1 (first
quoting Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 694 n.3 (1996); and then quoting Quantum Dev.
Co. v. Luckett, 242 Va. 159, 161 (1991), and Naulty v. Commonwealth, 2 Va. App. 523, 527
(1986)); accord MCR Fed., LLC v. JB&A, Inc., 294 Va. 446, 457 (2017) (explicitly equating the
standards in the civil context); see also New Dimensions, Inc. v. Tarquini, 286 Va. 28, 35 (2013)
(recognizing that “federal substantive law is applied under state procedural rules to the extent that
the state rules do not interfere with the consistent operation of federal law”).
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impermissible basis under Batson. These contentions raise both step-two and step-three claims
under Batson.5
The step-two claim concerns whether the prosecutor provided a facially race-neutral reason
for striking Juror 14 under the Batson test, based on his assertion that he did so because of her
negative “body language.” Williams argues this explanation was “plainly inadequate.” This Court,
however, has rejected such a claim, holding that “concern[] based upon [the prosecutor’s]
observations (or [even a] lack thereof) of . . . [a] juror’s body language or demeanor during voir dire
is certainly a . . . race-neutral reason for striking a juror.” Griffin v. Commonwealth, 78 Va. App.
116, 138-39 (2023); see Goodson v. Commonwealth, 22 Va. App. 61, 81 (1996) (“Age, education,
employment, and demeanor during voir dire may constitute race-neutral explanations for a
peremptory strike.”). The prosecutor’s reason, therefore, satisfies step two of the Batson test.
The step-three claim involves whether the prosecutor’s “body language” rationale was
credible or pretextual under that portion of the Batson test.6 Whether the prosecutor acted with an
intent to discriminate is a finding of fact “entitled to ‘great deference.’” Bethea, 297 Va. at 756
5
Step one of Batson requires a defendant to make out “a mere prima facie case of
discrimination.” Bethea, 297 Va. at 749. A defendant does so by showing both “that he is a
member of a cognizable racial group[]” and “that the prosecutor has exercised [a] peremptory
challenge[] to remove . . . [a] venire member[] of the defendant’s race.” Stevens, 70 Va. App. at
296-97 (quoting Batson, 476 U.S. at 96). The adequacy of Williams’s step-one allegation is not in
dispute in this case.
6
The Commonwealth suggests that Williams failed to preserve his step-three claim of
pretext for appeal. We assume without deciding that this claim is properly before us. See
McGinnis v. Commonwealth, 296 Va. 489, 501 (2018) (assuming without deciding that an issue
was properly before the Court because addressing it on the merits provided the best and
narrowest ground for resolution). See generally Griffin, 78 Va. App. at 129, 138 (holding that,
where the prosecutor gave race- and gender-neutral reasons for his four strikes and the defendant
specifically challenged only two of those strikes as pretextual, he waived his right to challenge
the other two strikes as pretextual on appeal). But cf. generally Faison v. Hudson, 243 Va. 397,
402 (1992) (holding that “[i]mplicit in the trial court’s [step-two] ruling that [the prosecutor] had not
stated ‘a racially neutral explanation’ was a finding that [the defendant] had established a prima
facie case [under step one]”), cited with approval in Barksdale, 17 Va. App. at 459, and Stevens, 70
Va. App. at 297 n.9.
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(quoting Davis, 576 U.S. at 271). Here, the prosecutor told the trial judge, who necessarily was
present throughout the voir dire, what he observed about Juror 14 as compared to the rest of the jury
pool. He noted that he struck her as a result of her “body language.” He emphasized for
comparison purposes that “a[nother] female sitting right in front of her . . . was smiling and
nodding” as she responded but Juror 14 “seemed to be grimacing and just kind of sitting there
stoic.” The prosecutor added he was “concern[ed] that [Juror 14] was not going to be responsive
to th[e trial] process.” The trial court was in the best position to assess the prosecutor’s
credibility both based on his demeanor alone and in the context of the behavior of Juror 14
during voir dire. See Stevens, 70 Va. App. at 302; accord Davis, 576 U.S. at 274 (“Appellate
judges cannot on the basis of a cold record easily second-guess a trial judge’s decision about
likely motivation.” (quoting Rice v. Collins, 546 U.S. 333, 343 (2006) (Breyer, J., concurring))),
quoted with approval in Griffin, 78 Va. App. at 139. Viewed under the applicable standard for
step three, the trial court’s acceptance of the prosecutor’s explanation as credible was not clearly
erroneous or plainly wrong.
On these grounds, the trial court did not err by rejecting Williams’s Batson challenge to
the prosecutor’s use of a peremptory strike to remove Juror 14 from the venire panel.
II. Sufficiency of the Evidence to Prove Felony Eluding
Williams challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to prove he committed the felony
offense of eluding a police officer in violation of Code § 46.2-817(B). He suggests the evidence
established a “reasonable hypothesis of [his] innocence” of the felony and proved him guilty of
only the misdemeanor under subsection (A).
To the extent our analysis requires us to interpret the language in a statute, we do so de
novo. Bland-Henderson v. Commonwealth, 303 Va. 212, 218 (2024). But in determining
whether the evidence was sufficient to prove the offense, “we review factfinding with the highest
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degree of appellate deference.” Commonwealth v. Barney, 302 Va. 84, 96 (2023) (quoting
Bowman v. Commonwealth, 290 Va. 492, 496 (2015)). This deference is owed not only to the
jury’s assessment of the credibility of the witnesses but also to the inferences to be drawn “from
basic facts to ultimate facts.” Davis v. Commonwealth, 65 Va. App. 485, 500 (2015) (quoting
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979)). “[F]or an appellate court, ‘[t]he only “relevant
question is . . . whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the
crime beyond a reasonable doubt.”’” Commonwealth v. Garrick, 303 Va. 176, 182 (2024)
(second and third alterations in original) (quoting Barney, 302 Va. at 97 (emphasis added)).
Any element of a crime may be proved using circumstantial evidence “as long as the
evidence as a whole is sufficiently convincing to exclude all reasonable hypotheses of [the
defendant’s] innocence.” Boone v. Commonwealth, 63 Va. App. 383, 393 (2014). “The
Commonwealth, however, ‘need only exclude reasonable hypotheses of innocence that flow
from the evidence, not those that spring from the imagination of the defendant.’” Young v.
Commonwealth, 70 Va. App. 646, 653 (2019) (quoting Simon v. Commonwealth, 58 Va. App.
194, 206 (2011)). “The statement that circumstantial evidence must exclude every reasonable
theory of innocence is simply another way of stating that the Commonwealth has the burden of
proof beyond a reasonable doubt.” Vasquez v. Commonwealth, 291 Va. 232, 249-50 (2016)
(quoting Commonwealth v. Hudson, 265 Va. 505, 513 (2003)). It is under these well-established
standards that we review Williams’s sufficiency challenge.
Code § 46.2-817 proscribes both the felony and misdemeanor offenses of eluding a police
officer. The additional element that elevates the crime to a felony requires proof that the eluding
“interfere[d] with or endanger[ed] the operation of the [pursuing] law-enforcement vehicle or
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endanger[ed] a person.” Code § 46.2-817(B).7 If the evidence does not prove this element, the
defendant is guilty of only a misdemeanor. Code § 46.2-817(A). The jury was instructed on
these two grades of the offense, and it convicted him of the greater offense.
Williams suggests that the evidence did not establish a felony violation because it failed
to prove “that [his] operation of the vehicle endangered any person.”8 He admits driving at
speeds of one hundred miles per hour in two locations but emphasizes that this occurred on
“rural roads.” Williams notes that although he “went through stop signs” without stopping, he
turned right in those instances, implying that his behavior was less egregious than if he had been
turning left or going straight. Finally, he suggests that the vehicle impacts that occurred “did not
render the vehicles undrivable” and “were not major collisions.”
Despite these proffered distinctions, the evidence is sufficient to prove that Williams’s
behavior “endanger[ed] a person” within the meaning of Code § 46.2-817(B). This term, as used
in the statute, “encompasses the entire universe of people, including the defendant.” Phelps v.
Commonwealth, 275 Va. 139, 142 (2008). “The object of the endangerment,” therefore, “can be
the driver himself, the police officer, or anyone else on the road [who] could be put at risk from
the driver’s eluding.” Coleman v. Commonwealth, 52 Va. App. 19, 24 (2008). And “endanger”
7
Both categories of the crime of eluding in a motor vehicle require proof that the
defendant “received a visible or audible signal from a[] law-enforcement officer to bring his
motor vehicle to a stop” and “dr[o]ve[ that] motor vehicle in a willful and wanton disregard of
[the] signal.” Code § 46.2-817(A)-(B). These elements are not challenged on appeal.
8
We assume without deciding that Williams did not waive this claim by failing to
address the second way a felony violation of Code § 46.2-817 may be proved—with evidence
that his driving “interfere[d] with or endanger[ed] the operation of the law-enforcement
vehicle”—a point not raised by the Commonwealth. See McGinnis, 296 Va. at 501. See
generally Johnson v. Commonwealth, 45 Va. App. 113, 116-17 (2005) (holding that where two
alternative grounds may have supported the trial court’s ruling and the defendant challenged only
one on appeal, his failure to challenge the other ground constituted a waiver of his right to
consideration of the appeal), quoted with approval in Ferguson v. Stokes, 287 Va. 446, 452-53
(2014).
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means “to ‘expose to danger, harm, or loss.’” Id. (emphasis added) (quoting Endanger,
Webster’s New World Dictionary (3d coll. ed. 1988), and Endanger, The American Heritage
Dictionary (2d coll. ed. 1982)). Conduct that raises merely “the specter of endangerment,”
therefore, is adequate to prove the offense. Tucker v. Commonwealth, 38 Va. App. 343, 347
(2002) (emphasis added). In fact, “[t]o require the threat to be imminent would engraft an
[additional] element [on]to the offense . . . [and] subvert[] the salutary purpose[] of the statute.”
Id.9 In other words, for purposes of the statute, it does not matter whether the defendant “r[a]n
into another vehicle or a pedestrian during [his vehicular flight] or, for that matter, ma[d]e a
specific maneuver causing him or someone else to be ‘actually imperiled’ by an imminent
collision.” Coleman, 52 Va. App. at 25 (quoting Tucker, 38 Va. App. at 347). “That the
exposure . . . d[id] not result in any actual harm is a welcome fortuity, but not a legal defense.”
Id. at 24.
In the instant case, Williams’s acts of eluding “endanger[ed]” any number of “person[s]”
within the meaning of the felony offense defined in Code § 46.2-817(B)—including himself, the
officers pursuing him, and everyone else driving or walking in the vicinity of the lengthy pursuit.
At the beginning of the chase, when Lieutenant Lewis maneuvered his Charger to try to
stop the Impala, Williams swerved into the Charger’s lane and drove down the shoulder. Lewis
testified that the immediate danger from this maneuver ceased only because he temporarily
abandoned his effort to stop Williams. As Lewis continued to follow the Impala, Williams ran at
least two stop signs and drove on a sidewalk. He then “veered” in front of an SUV, causing a
collision that damaged both the SUV and the Impala. He drove at speeds of one hundred miles
per hour at two different points during his flight, at least once while on a road with residential
9
Code § 46.2-817(B) previously required that the endangerment result in “serious bodily
injury to another” to be a felony, but this requirement was removed in 1999. Coleman, 52
Va. App. at 24 (citing 1999 Va. Acts ch. 720).
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housing. As the prosecutor observed, anyone “back[ing] out of their driveway . . . could have
been hit.” Williams also drove fifty to sixty miles per hour into a heavily residential area. And
when Williams entered an “unusually busy” area with businesses, pedestrians, and a twenty-five
mile-per-hour speed limit, the police Charger pursuing the Impala narrowly avoided a collision
with another car.
Near the end of the chase, Lewis again tried to force Williams to stop by veering toward
the Impala and pushing it against the curb. After briefly stopping, however, Williams “shot over
into all kinds of traffic,” hit the rear of the Charger, and then “bumped” the Charger again.
When Lewis tried to finally put an end to the pursuit, Williams drove the Impala into the Charger
yet another time before the Impala was stopped for good. And the Charger sustained about
$4,000 in damage.
In sum, Williams operated the Impala at speeds of up to one hundred miles per hour at
least twice during a car chase that lasted eighteen minutes. The pursuit traversed, at various
points, crowded residential and business areas, and resulted in multiple impacts with other
vehicles along the route. Cf. Coleman, 52 Va. App. at 25 (upholding a conviction for felony
eluding following a “two-mile chase” where the defendant, although he was intoxicated and
drove erratically, “did not actually run into another vehicle or a pedestrian”). This evidence was
more than sufficient to prove that Williams’s ongoing acts of eluding satisfied the challenged
element of the felony offense by endangering “a[ny] person.” See Code § 46.2-817(B). See
generally Fary v. Commonwealth, 77 Va. App. 331, 344 (2023) (en banc) (“Whether an alternate
hypothesis of innocence is reasonable is a question of fact [the resolution of which] is binding on
appeal unless plainly wrong.” (quoting Lucas v. Commonwealth, 75 Va. App. 334, 348 (2022))),
aff’d, 303 Va. 1 (2024).
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CONCLUSION
We hold that the trial court did not err. The record supports the trial court’s rulings that
the prosecutor provided a facially race-neutral justification for his strike of the challenged juror
and that the stated reason was not pretextual. Further, the evidence was sufficient to prove that
Williams drove his vehicle in a manner that proved the offense of felony eluding of a
law-enforcement officer. As a result, we affirm his conviction.
Affirmed.
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