H-1417.1          _______________________________________________

                                  HOUSE BILL 1775

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State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1991 Regular Session

By Representatives Inslee, Locke, Wineberry, Prentice, Franklin, Paris, Belcher, Appelwick, Wang, Morton, Ebersole and Pruitt.

Read first time February 8, 1991.  Referred to Committee on Judiciary.Changing provisions relating to peremptory challenges of jurors.

     AN ACT Relating to peremptory challenges of jurors; and amending RCW 4.44.140.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

     Sec. 1.  RCW 4.44.140 and Code 1881 s 208 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, a peremptory challenge is an objection to a juror for which no reason need be given, but upon which the court shall exclude ((him)) the juror.

(2) No juror may be stricken by means of a peremptory challenge based in whole or in part on the juror's race.

(3) Any party may require the other party or attorney to articulate the reason for exercise of a peremptory challenge in an in camera proceeding when the party requesting the in camera proceeding reasonably believes subsection (2) of this section has been violated by the party exercising the peremptory challenge.