Opinion ID: 2590272
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Denial of defendant's motion to quash the grand jury indictment

Text: At trial, defendant unsuccessfully moved to quash the indictment on the ground that the Orange County Grand Jury selection process was unconstitutional because of the absence of Asian-American prospective jurors in the venire. On appeal, defendant contends that the trial court's denial of his motion to quash was erroneous and violated his rights under the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the federal Constitution and parallel provisions of the California Constitution, requiring reversal of the guilt and penalty judgments. Defendant's claim is without merit. In connection with his motion to quash, defendant filed a motion for joinder in a case already pending in Orange County Superior Court, People v. Chan (1994, No. 93ZF0012) ( Chan ). The defendant in Chan, joined by defendant and numerous other defendants whose trials were then pending in Orange County, alleged unconstitutional discrimination against Asian-Americans in Orange County's grand jury selection process. A lengthy hearing was held in the Chan proceedings. John Weeks, who held a Ph.D. in demography, testified on behalf of the defendants. Weeks explained that, from a pool of 157 applicants for the 1992-1993 Orange County Grand Jury that indicted the defendants, 30 persons ultimately were selected as grand jurors. Of the 157 applicants for the grand jury, nine were nominated by judges, and the others were self-nominated. None of the nine persons nominated by judges was Asian-American. In the previous 10 years, only one Asian-American had been nominated by a judge. Regarding the grand jury that returned the indictment against defendant, four of the persons nominated by judges actually became grand jurors. In past years, persons nominated by judges were statistically more likely to become grand jurors. Weeks acknowledged that, because judges subsequently selected all of the members of the grand jury, every person ultimately chosen for grand jury service had been, in effect, nominated by a judge. For purposes of the defense motion to quash the indictment, Weeks considered the composition of the grand jury pool, as opposed to the grand jury itself, to be the relevant inquiry. In the 1992-1993 grand jury pool, there were nine minority group members, including two Asian-Americans. The two Asian-Americans later withdrew their applications, and accordingly no Asian-Americans were seated on the grand jury. One African-American and four Hispanic jurors were seated on the grand jury. The percentage of Asian-Americans in the grand jury pool was only 1.3 percent. Among persons over 18 years of age in Orange County, the percentage of Asian-Americans was 11.7 percent. In his initial testimony, Weeks did not exclude from his calculations Asian-Americans who were not fluent in the English language and therefore were not qualified to serve as grand jurors. Under this initial analysis, the absolute disparity for Asian-Americans in the jury pool was 10.4 percent (11.7 percent minus 1.3 percent) and the relative disparity was 89 percent (10.4 over 11.7 multiplied by 100). Weeks concluded there was no statistical possibility that such a relative disparity could occur by chance. Weeks testified again after adjusting his calculations to exclude non-English-speaking Asian-Americans, and stated that the absolute disparity for Asian-Americans in the grand jury pool was 6.4 percent or less, depending on the level of proficiency of English that was being considered. Among 2,335 persons contacted in a random Orange County sampling who indicated they qualified for federal jury service on the basis of their American citizenship and proficiency in English, the percentage of Asian-Americans was 8.5 percent. Persons who sit as grand jurors, however, are usually older than the general population and retired. Weeks estimated that, within Orange County, there were 5,601 Asian-Americans of retirement age (i.e., 60 years of age or older) but under 75 years of age who would qualify for grand jury service. Some of those persons, Weeks testified, might not speak English perfectly, and a large proportion of them would have been born outside the United States. Weeks speculated that a lack of familiarity with the grand jury system would make Asian-American potential grand jurors reluctant to participate in it. Weeks did not know whether Asian-Americans tended to be involved in family businesses more than persons in the general population and, therefore, to retire at a later age. Taking these calculations and variables into account, Weeks concluded there was some systematic exclusion of Asian-Americans and other minorities in the application process for the grand jury pool. A declaration signed by Orange County Jury Commissioner Alan Slater, with attached exhibits, was admitted into evidence for purposes of the hearing on the motion to quash the grand jury indictments. In the declaration and in testimony given at the hearing, Slater explained that a committee of 15 superior court judges selected a grand jury panel of 30 persons from which 19 would be randomly selected to serve as grand jurors. The remaining 11 persons on the panel would serve as alternates. Throughout the year, the superior court clerk's office distributed grand jury information to an ever-increasing number of organizations of all varieties, encouraging as many persons as possible to apply to serve as grand jurors. [5] Slater further testified that the clerk's office attempted to be inclusive of all possible ethnic groups, attempted to enlist the mass media in an effort to inform persons in the community about jury service, and sent persons to speak about grand jury service to anyone who is willing to listen. Grand jurors are required to work full time for a year and at times on evenings and weekends, and are compensated by daily fees of $25, up to a maximum of $100 per week. In the previous 10 years, there had been 22 applications by Asian-Americans for grand jury service and six occasions on which Asian-Americans had been chosen as grand jurors. William Gyak, the Orange County demographer, testified that, of the persons in the county between the ages of 60 and 74 years of age who were very proficient in the English language, only 2.1 percent, or 3,011, were Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders. Of the 240,000 Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders in the county, 91,000 resided in areas having average incomes above the county median. For the prior 10-year period, Asian-Americans who applied for grand jury duty had a statistically greater chance of becoming grand jurors than did White applicants. Gyak explained that comparative disparities in statistics tend to be magnified when the group under consideration forms a very small proportion of the population in question. Finally, John Mei Liu, a professor of comparative culture, testified that Asians constituted a distinct group
(1) We set forth the relevant legal inquiry in People v. Horton (1995) 11 Cal.4th 1068, 1087-1088 [47 Cal.Rptr.2d 516, 906 P.2d 478]. Although that decision concerned petit juries, the same standard applies in evaluating the composition of grand juries. ( Vasquez v. Hillery (1986) 474 U.S. 254, 261-262 [88 L.Ed.2d 598, 106 S.Ct. 617].) [6] Under the federal and state Constitutions, an accused is entitled to a jury drawn from a representative cross-section of the community. (U.S. Const., 6th Amend.; Cal. Const., art. I, § 16; Duren v. Missouri (1979) 439 U.S. 357, 358-367 [58 L.Ed.2d 579, 99 S.Ct. 664]; People v. Howard (1992) 1 Cal.4th 1132, 1159 [5 Cal.Rptr.2d 268, 824 P.2d 1315].) That guarantee mandates that the pools from which juries are drawn must not systematically exclude distinctive groups in the community. ( People v. Mattson (1990) 50 Cal.3d 826, 842 [268 Cal.Rptr. 802, 789 P.2d 983].) `In order to establish a prima facie violation of the fair-cross-section requirement, the defendant must show (1) that the group alleged to be excluded is a distinctive group in the community; (2) that the representation of this group in venires from which juries are selected is not fair and reasonable in relation to the number of such persons in the community; and (3) that this underrepresentation is due to systematic exclusion of the group in the jury-selection process.' ( Duren v. Missouri, supra, 439 U.S. at p. 364 . . .; [citation].) The relevant `community' for cross-section purposes is the judicial district in which the case is tried. ( People v. Mattson, supra, 50 Cal.3d at p. 844; Williams v. Superior Court (1989) 49 Cal.3d 736, 744-745 [263 Cal.Rptr. 503, 781 P.2d 537].) If a defendant establishes a prima facie case of systematic underrepresentation, the burden shifts to the prosecution to provide either a more precise statistical showing that no constitutionally significant disparity exists or a compelling justification for the procedure that has resulted in the disparity in the jury venire. ( People v. Sanders (1990) 51 Cal.3d 471, 491 [273 Cal.Rptr. 537, 797 P.2d 561].) As to the third element of the Duren test, a defendant does not meet the burden of demonstrating that the underrepresentation was due to systematic exclusion, by establishing only statistical evidence of a disparity. A defendant must show, in addition, that the disparity is the result of an improper feature of the jury selection process. ( People v. Howard, supra, 1 Cal.4th at p. 1160; People v. Bell (1989) 49 Cal.3d 502, 530 [262 Cal.Rptr. 1, 778 P.2d 129].) When a county's jury selection criteria are neutral with respect to race, ethnicity, sex, and religion, the defendant must identify some aspect of the manner in which those criteria are applied (the probable cause of the disparity) that is constitutionally impermissible. ( People v. Sanders, supra, 51 Cal.3d at p. 492; People v. Bell, supra, 49 Cal.3d at p. 524.) ( People v. Horton, supra, 11 Cal.4th at pp. 1087-1088, italics omitted.) In the present case, the trial court hearing the motion to quash the grand jury indictments issued an order denying the motion, concluding that it border[ed] on being frivolous. Acknowledging a conflict in the law regarding whether Asians constituted a cognizable group for purposes of constitutional analysis, the court nonetheless concluded that they did not constitute a cognizable group, because they did not share a common language or common historical factors. Rather, according to the court, the term Asians includes groups such as Chinese and Filipinos, separate ethnic groups that do constitute cognizable groups. Additionally, relying on People v. Bell, supra, 49 Cal.3d 502, 527, footnote 14, in which we criticized the use of tests more complex than the absolute disparity test when the group allegedly excluded is very small, the court concluded that because the absolute disparity in the present case was estimated at 3.8 percent by Gyak, and 6.4 percent by Weeks, the disparity was constitutionally insignificant. (See People v. Bell, supra, 49 Cal.3d at p. 528, fn. 15 [noting that absolute disparity levels of less than 11.49 percent have been found to be constitutionally insignificant].) The trial court also stated it was making its decision without reaching the third prong of the test articulated in Duren v. Missouri, supra, 439 U.S. 357, 364. Whether Asians can or do constitute a cognizable group is an unsettled issue. We previously have observed, however, that it is at least questionable whether the generic description Asian . . . can constitute a `cognizable group.' ( People v. Johnson, supra, 47 Cal.3d at p. 1217, fn. 3, citing U.S. v. Sgro (1st Cir. 1987) 816 F.2d 30.) We need not decide that question, however, because defendant has not met his burden of satisfying the third prong of the test articulated in Duren v. Missouri, supra, 439 U.S. 357that there was systematic exclusion of Asians from the grand jury selection process. ( People v. Bell, supra, 49 Cal.3d at pp. 527-528 [declining to resolve the question of whether a cognizable group was underrepresented, because defendant failed to show any disparity was caused by systematic exclusion].) As detailed above, Jury Commissioner Slater's declaration and testimony detailed the exhaustive efforts undertaken by the Orange County Superior Court Clerk's Office to invite Asian-Americans to apply for grand jury service. The defendants bringing the motion to quash offered no evidence to rebut the showing of substantial efforts undertaken by the county to include Asian-Americans in the venire, and offered no proof of any improper feature of the jury selection process. The defendants therefore failed to establish a prima facie case that the statistical discrepancies identified were caused by any systematic exclusion of Asian-Americans. Defendant's briefing in this court focuses upon the status of Asians as a cognizable group and upon the statistical comparisons that should be applied to claims of discrimination against prospective grand jurors, but points to no evidence in the record that would establish systematic exclusion. Accordingly, there is no merit in defendant's claim that Asian-Americans unconstitutionally were excluded from the grand jury that indicted him, and the trial court properly denied the motion to quash his indictment on that basis.