United States v. James Dean Potter

Appellant (Potter) was convicted of importing marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 952 (a) and 960(a)(1). He claims error as to two rulings by the District Court. The first was a refusal to dismiss the indictment because of discrimination in the selection of the grand jury, and the second was a denial of the motion to suppress evidence garnered in a search of Potter’s airplane.

I. GRAND JURY CHALLENGE

The Jury Selection Act of 1968, 28 U.S.C. § 1861 et seq., establishes as a national policy the right of all litigants to have grand (and, of course, trial) juries selected at random from a fair cross-section of the local community. Section 1863 of the Act mandates the use of voter registration lists or lists of actual voters as the primary source of jurors, but requires the use of other sources of names where necessary to insure a fair cross-section. Section 1867 sets forth the mechanics for challenge and provides for a stay of proceedings or dismissal of the indictment whenever there is a substantial failure to comply with the provisions of the Act.

“There is no requirement that a grand jury be a statistical mirror of the community, United States v. DiTommaso, 405 F.2d 385, 389…