Opinion ID: 1267182
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the grand jury list

Text: 3. The trial court correctly denied Smith's motion to quash his indictment after finding that the Hall County jury commission did not err by using 1990 Census numbers to compile the 2000 grand jury list. The Hispanic population in Hall County, and the overall county population, grew considerably from 1990 to 2000. The 1990 Census showed that there were 3,252 Hispanics over age 18 out of a total over-18 county population of 70,969 (4.6%). See Morrow, supra at 695, 532 S.E.2d 78. The 2000 Census showed that there are 17,424 over-18 Hispanics out of a total over-18 county population of 101,760 (17.1%). However, the 2000 Census numbers showing an increased percentage of Hispanics did not become available until a year after the Hall County jury commission compiled the grand jury list in March 2000. Smith was indicted in June 2000. Smith claims that the jury commission was aware of the increasing Hispanic immigration into Hall County and should not have relied on the 1990 Census. Instead, he argues that the jury commission should have deviated from the 1990 Census numbers, estimated a larger number of Hispanics in Hall County, and raised the percentage of Hispanics on the grand jury list. This is essentially the same argument that failed in Morrow. The Unified Appeal Procedure requires that the group percentages on the grand jury list be based on the county statistics from the most recent decennial census. Unified Appeal Procedure Rule II(C)(6)(b). Obviously, the census conducted by the federal government is not perfect, and county populations are not static. People of all groups constantly move into and out of counties, especially during growth periods such as that currently being experienced in the metropolitan Atlanta area. But the census, a comprehensive county-wide head count, is clearly more accurate than case-by-case population estimates like those found to be unreliable in Morrow. Courts and jury commissions need a valid population benchmark upon which to calculate the appropriate group percentages on the jury list, and that benchmark cannot be a moving target. Smith has not shown how interim population estimates would be more accurate in the compilation of the percentages on the jury list. Indeed, arbitrarily adjusting the group percentages on the grand jury list to accommodate a particular defendant would invite fair-cross-section challenges to the list by other defendants. When compiling the March 2000 grand jury list, the Hall County jury commission properly relied on the most recent decennial census numbers that were available to it. Morrow, supra at 694-695, 532 S.E.2d 78; Unified Appeal Procedure Rule II(C)(6)(b). The absolute disparity between the percentage of Hispanics on the 2000 grand jury list and the percentage of jury-eligible Hispanics in the county was within constitutional bounds. See Morrow, supra at 695, 532 S.E.2d 78; Cook, supra.