Court Opinion

ID: 9727806
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 13:50:40.021233+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:22:12.922553
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE RIZZI, specially concurring: I agree with the result reached by the majority. However, I do not agree with the majority’s statements or conclusions regarding the sixth amendment challenge to the State’s systematic exclusion of blacks from the jury. In my opinion, a defendant’s right to an impartial jury under the sixth amendment gives him a constitutional entitlement to a jury drawn from a fair cross-section of the community. Therefore, I believe that the State may not at any stage of the jury selection process affirmatively frustrate this entitlement by systematically excluding cognizable racial groups from the jury in any case solely because of their race.