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Name: United States v. Torres-Hernandez
Case #: 05-50136
Court: US Court of Appeals
District 9 Cir
Opinion Date: 05/08/2006
Summary

To determine whether Hispanics are underrepresented in venires in violation of the Sixth Amendment, a district court must rely on the evidence that most accurately reflects the judicial district’s actual percentage of jury-eligible Hispanics. The Ninth Circuit held that a district court may not consider Hispanics who are ineligible for jury service to determine whether Hispanics are underrepresented on grand juries. The district court here correctly denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss where it used the most accurate data presented to it by the parties, data that excluded segments of the Hispanic population ineligible for jury service.