Juror Dismissed for Chewing Gum

In People v. Jordan (2006) 146 Cal.App.4th 232, a case in which the prosecutor dismissed a prospective juror in part because she chewed gum during voir dire and the prosecutor believed her gum chewing showed a lack of respect for the court (id. at p. 254), the Court of Appeal upheld the trial court's denial of the defendant's Wheeler/Batson motion as to that prospective juror, stating, "the fact that defense counsel did not think that gum chewing was disrespectful does not call into question the credibility of the prosecutor's reasons for excusing" that prospective juror. (Id. at p. 255.) Jordan holds that a prospective juror's act of chewing gum during voir dire is a proper and sufficient ground for exclusion of that prospective juror through the exercise of a peremptory challenge. (People v. Jordan, supra, 146 Cal.App.4th at pp. 254-256.)