Frank C. Garcia and eleven defendants with pending cases in Maricopa County Superior Court, all represented by Comeback Law P.C. a major felony law firm have filed a Petition for Review with the Arizona Supreme Court appealing the refusal of the Superior Court and the Court of Appeals to grant them an evidentiary hearing. The Petition alleges thatfor decades, county jury officials have as a matter of public policy knowingly failed to enforce the obligation of jury service for all residents. The Petition alleges that the non-enforcement of jury service is at least partly responsible for causing a statistically significant underrepresentation of Hispanics and Blacks from the county's jury pools as determined by John R. Weeks, PhD, one of the nation's most respected population studies and jury management experts.
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Maricopa County Excludes Hispanics and Blacks from Jury Pools by Non enforcement of Jury Obligation
The Petition alleges that the Judicial Branch of Arizona is well aware that Hispanics and Blacks have a lower response rate than other population groups on account of their lower incomes and knowingly permits those minority groups to avoid performing their civic obligation of jury duty by failing to enforce A.R.S. 21§ 223 which provides that non-responders may be fined up to $500. The county's policy decision has for decades cost Maricopa County hundreds of millions of dollars in potential revenue from fines and interest on unpaid fines. In 2023, just eight jurors were fined a total of $2,050 with more than 200,000 persons having failed to respond to their jury summonses. The policy not to enforce jury duty for all residents has served to encourage Blacks and Hispanics to disassociate from the mainstream community.
As criminal defendants with cases before the Court, Mr. Garcia and the other defendants do not wish to be tried by all White or nearly all White juries which the evidence shows is what they're likely facing when their cases proceed to trial. A constitutional amendment ending the Supreme Court's exclusive authority to manage the courts would be the next logical step in bringing an end to all White juries in Arizona. A copy of the Petition for Review may be found on Comeback Law PC's website: www.comeback-law.com. Contact: Dave Erlichman Comeback Law PC 602-622-0244
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SOURCE Comeback Law PC
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