JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday in case in which a white defendant is seeking a new trial because the prosecution disqualified the only black member of the jury pool.

Troy Marlowe, formerly of Poplar Bluff, Mo., and two accomplices attempted to steal anhydrous ammonia, a key ingredient in the manufacture of methamphetamine, from the Whitewater Co-op on Nov. 15, 1999.

Law enforcement officers watching the co-op because of previous thefts quickly stepped in to arrest the men. In the course of attempting to flee, Marlowe stuck a state trooper with his van, though the trooper was not seriously injured. Marlowe had a firearm in his possession.

In November 2000, a Cape Girardeau County jury found Marlowe guilty of two felonies -- resisting arrest and unlawful use of a weapon -- and two misdemeanors -- assault of a law enforcement officer and attempting to steal anhydrous ammonia. He was sentenced to two consecutive 10-year prison terms on the felonies and two concurrent six-month terms for the misdemeanors.

Removal of member

Marlowe's primary claim on appeal is that Circuit Court Judge William L. Syler erred in allowing Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle to remove the lone black member of the jury pool during the jury selection process.

A 1980s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court bars potential jurors from being removed on the basis of race. At trial, Swingle said he removed the juror because she was a state employee and because she was a party in a class-action lawsuit, not on racial grounds.

John M. Albright of Poplar Bluff, Marlowe's attorney, told the state high court that Swingle's reasons were merely a pretext to keep a black person off the jury and noted that the prosecutor did not attempt to remove three white members of the pool who were also involved in lawsuits.

"We never convinced the court that a Caucasian man can raise objections to the exclusion of an African-American juror," Albright said.

Assistant state attorney general Linda Lemke said Swingle offered a reasonable, race-neutral explanation for removing the juror and that Marlowe provided no evidence of a pretext intended to hide racial motive.

Lemke said she didn't think the prosecutor should have left the juror in the pool just because she was African-American.

The Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District in St. Louis rejected Marlowe's request for a new trial, prompting his latest appeal.

Marlowe, 31, is currently incarcerated at the Northeast Correctional Center in Bowling Green, Mo.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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