[DOWNLOAD] "Fields V. People" by Colorado Supreme Court ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Fields V. People
- Author : Colorado Supreme Court
- Release Date : January 17, 1987
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 68 KB
Description
We granted certiorari to review the decision of the court of appeals in People v. Fields, 697 P.2d 749 (Colo. App. 1984), affirming the conviction of the defendant, Paul Louis Fields, of one count of first degree murder and two counts of attempted first degree murder. The court of appeals upheld the district court's refusal to consider the defendant's argument that the prosecutor was using his peremptory challenges in an unconstitutional manner to exclude Spanish-surnamed persons from the jury panel. We hold that a prosecutor's use of peremptory challenges systematically to exclude Spanish-surnamed persons from a jury deprives a defendant of the right to trial by an impartial jury guaranteed by the sixth amendment to the federal constitution and article II, section 16 of the Colorado Constitution. Although a defendant may establish a prima facie violation of this right solely on the basis of the use of peremptory challenges at the defendant's trial, here the transcript of the voir dire allows us to determine that the prosecutor's use of peremptory challenges to excuse three of the four Spanish-surnamed persons from the jury panel did not violate the defendant's right to an impartial jury. We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.