Whether a court can use its own speculation to supplant facts necessary to make findings at each step of the Batson inquiry

QUESTIONS PRESENTED In Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), this Court developed a three-step inquiry to determine whether a party's peremptory strikes were unconstitutionally motivated by discriminatory purpose. The Supreme Court of Arizona and the Ninth Circuit are split on whether a judge can deviate from this process with judicial speculation about the prosecutor’s proffered reasons for a strike. This petition implicates this split and presents the question of whether a court can use its own speculation to supplant facts necessary to make findings at each step. : . i