Court Opinion

ID: 9743744
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:41:59.207679+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:43.194986
License: Public Domain

*114Concurring Opinion
DeBruler, J.
While I fully concur in the Court’s resolution of the remainder of the issues raised in this appeal, I find that on the issue of appellant’s objection to the petit jury venire I must concur only in the result. I cannot agree with the majority’s implication that before a venire could be deemed unconstitutionally drawn a defendant would have to “establish purposeful discrimination.” Both our Federal and State Constitutions require that jury panels reflect a cross-section of the community from which they are drawn. Whitus v. Ga. (1967), 385 U.S. 545, 87 S. Ct. 643, 17 L. Ed. 2d 599; Smith v. Texas (1940), 311 U.S. 128, 61 S. Ct. 164, 85 L. Ed. 84; Dixon v. State (1946), 224 Ind. 327, 67 N. E. 2d 138; Taylor v. State (1973), 260 Ind. 264, 295 N. E. 2d 600 (DeBruler, J., dissenting). A jury panel which fails to reflect a cross-section, regardless of whether the failure is a result of unintentional or purposeful exclusion, does not meet these constitutional standards. Jones v. Ga. (1967), 389 U.S. 24, 88 S. Ct. 4, 19 L. Ed. 2d 25; Avery v. Ga. (1953), 345 U.S. 559, 73 S. Ct. 891, 97 L. Ed. 1244.
Appellant in this case, however, has failed in his burden to make a prima facie showing of exclusion. The evidence introduced by appellant at the hearing below showed only that a county clerk knew of four Black people in the county and that “some” persons of Korean and Japanese extraction also lived there. There was no evidence as to the total population of the county or what percentage of that population were non-Caucasian. Such a showing would be necessary before a prima facie case of exclusion would be made and I therefore concur in the result of this issue. Alexander v. La. (1972), 92 S. Ct. 1221; Turner v. Fouche (1970), 396 U.S. 346, 90 S. Ct. 532, 24 L. Ed. 2d 567.
Note. — Reported in 300 N. E. 2d 665.