People v. De Rosans

Introduction

Henry De Rosans (appellant) appeals from a conviction of second degree robbery and three related offenses. His principal contention is that the trial court erred in denying his challenge to the jury panel as unrepresentative of the community and in also denying his motion for a continuance for the purpose of complying with the procedural requirements for the challenge.

We shall hold that the trial court correctly denied both the challenge and the motion for a continuance. Appellant failed to make a prima facie showing of a violation of his right to a jury drawn from a fair cross-section of the community. Because appellant had ample time to make the challenge prior to trial, the court did not abuse its discretion in denying him a continuance to perfect the challenge.

Appellant also contends the trial court should have granted his motion to exclude evidence of certain prior convictions so that the prosecution could not use them to impeach him if he testified. Appellant waived this issue by not testifying. Appellant’s objection to the court’s imposition of a restitution fine without a finding of his ability to pay is also waived, since he did not raise it at…