Floyd v. Garrison
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
996 F.2d 947 (8th Cir. 1993)
In a civil rights suit brought by Mattie Ruth Floyd (plaintiff), a Black woman, against a white officer, Garrison (defendant), over a fatal shooting, Floyd sought to dissolve a 40-person jury pool that included only one Black prospective juror, arguing that selecting jurors from voter registration lists violated federal jury-selection law and equal protection; the trial court denied the motion, a jury found for Garrison, and Floyd's motion for a new trial was also denied before she appealed.
Whether selecting a jury pool from voter registration lists violates the fair-cross-section requirement of the Jury Selection and Service Act or the equal protection guarantee of the Fifth Amendment when it results in the underrepresentation of Black people in the jury pool.