A stay of criminal proceedings was requested by the defense for professional golfer Jim Thorpe, who is set to go to trial for failing to pay over $1.5 million in income taxes. Orlando criminal defense attorney Mark L. Horwitz filed the motion on behalf of Thorpe, pointing to an under-representation of blacks and Hispanics on the trial jury.
Jury members are selected from a list of registered voters. Though evenly represented in the list of potential jurors, blacks and Hispanics find themselves underrepresented by about 35 percent after the list has been trimmed to designate “qualified jurors.”
The motion filed by Horwitz points to a “pattern of unfair under-representation” of the black and Hispanic communities on trial juries and asks that a stay in the proceedings be granted until a fair and representative jury can be assembled.
Posted in 
Tags: