Court Opinion

ID: 9711506
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:33:19.915635+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:05.579795
License: Public Domain

NIX, Justice,
concurring.
Although I agree the judgment of sentence must be affirmed, I cannot join the majority opinion because of its reliance upon Commonwealth v. Futch, 492 Pa. 359, 424 A.2d 1231 (1981) and Commonwealth v. Jones, 465 Pa. 473, 350 A.2d 862 (1976). The majority uses these two decisions in denying relief as to the appellant’s claims relating to the possibility of racial prejudice in the jury selection process. I agree with the ultimate result that no prejudice has been shown in this particular record.
*292In Commonwealth v. Futch, supra, I expressed my disagreement in a concurring opinion. See Commonwealth v. Futch, supra, (Nix, J., Concurring Opinion, filed January 30, 1981). While I did not participate in Commonwealth v. Jones, supra, I do not adhere to the blanket statement that a jury panel selection process, where the sole source of perspective jurors is obtained from the use of voter registration rolls may not be found offensive, even though an identifiable racial group is significantly proportionately smaller on the voter registration rolls than its proportion to the general population. There are too many other easily accessible methods for selecting prospective jurors from all segments of the community to permit the exclusive use of a means which is inherently suspect. Again, I find that there is no indication of such a problem in this particular record.