Pinell

All defendants were indicted for murder (Pen. Code, § 187), conspiracy (Pen. Code, § 182), and assault with a deadly weapon by a prisoner either under life sentence (Pen. Code, § 4500) or a sentence for less than life (Pen. Code, § 4501). All moved to quash the indictment (Pen. Code, § 995) on the ground that the grand jury which returned the indictment in 1971 was improperly chosen.

Respondents contend that “significantly indentifiable elements” of the population of Marin County had been excluded from the pool of 30 names from which the 19 grand jurors for 1971 were drawn. An extended evidentiary hearing was held. Among the witnesses were the judges of the superior court. They solicited names of prospective jurors from a total of 79 civic, labor, ethnic and other organizations of the county, receiving 75 names from that solicitation. They added 30 names they had personally gathered. The judges testified that they collectively sought to obtain a fair cross section of the community, including old and young, male and female, black and white, rich and poor, and those with a knowledge of each section of the county, and that no group was intentionally excluded. Questionnaires…