People v. Garcia
California Court of Appeal
92 Cal. Rptr. 2d 339 (2000)
Relevant factsFree
During jury selection in Cano Garcia's (defendant's) burglary trial, the prosecutor used peremptory challenges to strike two venire members after it became known they were lesbians; the trial court, ruling that homosexuals were not a cognizable group for jury-selection purposes, denied Garcia's objection without inquiring into the prosecutor's actual reasons for the strikes, and Garcia was convicted and appealed.
IssueFree
Whether homosexuals constitute a cognizable group under the Sixth Amendment's fair-cross-section requirement, such that they cannot be systematically excluded from a jury through peremptory challenges based on sexual orientation.