United States v. Rodriguez-Lara

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,  No. 04-10113

Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No.

v.  CR-03-05101-1-

LUIS MANUEL RODRIGUEZ-LARA, OWW

Defendant-Appellant.

 OPINION

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Eastern District of California

Oliver W. Wanger, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted

April 11, 2005—San Francisco, California

Filed August 26, 2005

Before: Donald P. Lay,* Betty B. Fletcher, and

Michael Daly Hawkins, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge B. Fletcher

*Honorable Donald P. Lay, Senior United States Circuit Judge for the

Eighth Circuit, sitting by designation.

11595

UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA 11599

COUNSEL

Melody M. Walcott, Assistant Federal Public Defender,

Fresno, California, for the defendant-appellant.

David Gappa, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Fresno, California, for

the plaintiff-appellee.

OPINION

B. FLETCHER, Circuit Judge:

Defendant-appellant Luis Manuel Rodriguez-Lara

(“Rodriguez”), an alien convicted of reentry after deportation,

appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to appoint an

expert to assist him in pursuing his equal protection and fair

cross-section challenges to the composition of the jury pool in

the Fresno Division of the Eastern District of California.

Rodriguez also claims that the district court erred in its appli-

cation of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and that the court

violated his Sixth Amendment rights by enhancing his sen-

tence in violation of Apprendi v. New Jersey and its progeny.

Given the extent of the fair cross-section showing Rodri-

guez was able to develop even without the help of an expert,

we hold that under the circumstances reasonably competent

11600 UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA

counsel would have required the services of an expert for a

paying client, and the lack of an expert prejudiced Rodriguez.

The district court therefore abused its discretion in denying

Rodriguez’s motion for the appointment of an expert.

Although Rodriguez’s Sixth Amendments rights were not vio-

lated by the judge’s use of a prior conviction to enhance

Rodriguez’s sentence, the district court committed plain error

in applying the acceptance-of-responsibility reduction under

the Sentencing Guidelines. We therefore vacate Rodriguez’s

sentence and remand for resentencing and the appointment of

an expert.

I. BACKGROUND

Under the Jury Selection and Service Act of 1968 (JSSA),

28 U.S.C. § 1861 et seq., each federal judicial district must

devise a plan for random selection of grand and petit jurors.

This plan must be designed to ensure that litigants have grand

and petit juries selected from a fair cross-section of the com-

munity in the applicable district or division of the district, and

that no prospective jurors are subject to discrimination on any

of several enumerated grounds. Id. §§ 1861-63. The statute

contemplates that each district or division will use voter regis-

tration lists or the lists of actual voters of the political subdivi-

sions within that district or division, but the statute also

requires that jury selection plans “prescribe some other source

or sources of names in addition to voter lists where necessary

to foster the policy and protect the rights” of fair cross-section

and anti-discrimination. Id. § 1863(b)(2).

The jury plan for the Eastern District of California provides

that names of prospective jurors for the master jury wheel are

to be drawn randomly from voter registration records for all

counties within the relevant division of the district. Amended

Plan for the Random Selection of Grand and Petit Jurors,

General Order No. 374 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 22, 2000), at 3 (here-

inafter “Amended Plan”).1 The Fresno Division consists of

1

We take judicial notice of the Eastern District’s most current juror

selection plan, which replaced the 1992 plan included in the record. We

UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA 11601

Merced, Mariposa, Madera, Fresno, Inyo, Kings, Tulare,

Kern, Calaveras, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne Counties. Id. at 1.

Names from the master jury wheel are drawn randomly as

necessary to fill the qualified jury wheel (which consists of

the names of individuals eligible for jury service and not

exempt or excused); names from the qualified wheel are

drawn randomly as necessary to select the individuals to be

summoned for service on grand and petit juries. Id. at 8, 12.

The qualifications for service are: United States citizenship;

eighteen years of age; residence within the judicial district for

one year; ability to read, write and understand English; ability

to speak English; mental and physical capability to render sat-

isfactory service; and no charge pending or conviction for a

crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year

(absent restoration of civil rights). Id. at 10; 28 U.S.C.

§ 1865(b). Members of the armed forces in active service,

members of police and fire departments, and public officers

actively engaged in the performance of their official duties are

exempt from service. Amended Plan at 11; 28 U.S.C.

§ 1863(b)(6). Individuals who are over seventy years of age,

who have served as a federal grand or petit juror within the

preceding two years, who serve as volunteer safety personnel,

or for whom service would constitute an “undue hardship or

extreme inconvenience” (for example, because of distance

from the court or family emergency), may be excused from

service. Amended Plan at 10-11.

In March 2003, Rodriguez was charged with being a

deported alien found in the United States in violation of 8

U.S.C. § 1326. After successfully moving to represent him-

self, Rodriguez moved to dismiss the indictment, claiming

that Hispanics were underrepresented in the jury wheel of the

Fresno Division of the Eastern District of California, in viola-

note that the feature of the plan most salient to Rodriguez’s claims remains

unchanged: the 1992 plan, like the current plan, calls for the use of voter

registration records as the sole source of names for the master jury wheel.

11602 UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA

tion of the fair cross-section requirement of the Sixth Amend-

ment and of the equal protection guarantee of the Fifth

Amendment.2 Relatedly, Rodriguez moved the court to pro-

vide him with jury statistics compiled by the court on forms

designated “JS-12” (commonly known simply as “JS-12s”),

and to appoint a demographic expert to assist him in substan-

tiating his claims concerning the systematic underrepresenta-

tion of Hispanics in the jury pool.

The court denied these motions without prejudice, and

Rodriguez renewed them, this time attaching supporting

exhibits including (in relevant part) a 1992 declaration pre-

pared for another case by an expert involved in several jury

underrepresentation cases; the 1992 jury selection plan for the

Eastern District of California; several JS-12s from the early

1990s; and 2000 census population data for the Fresno Divi-

sion. The district court expressed doubt about the viability of

Rodriguez’s claims but nonetheless ordered that Rodriguez be

provided with a more recent JS-12.

Three days later, Rodriguez again renewed his motion to

dismiss, now including the 2003 JS-12 statistics (provided by

the court) reflecting demographics both for the group of indi-

viduals who returned juror questionnaires after being drawn

2

Although Rodriguez styled his equal protection claim as one arising

under the Fourteenth Amendment, a claim of discrimination by the federal

government implicates the equivalent equal protection guarantee inherent

in the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. See Bolling v. Sharpe,

347 U.S. 497 (1954). In accordance with our duty to construe pro se

motions and pleadings liberally, see, e.g., Bernhardt v. Los Angeles

County, 339 F.3d 920, 925 (9th Cir. 2003), we treat Rodriguez’s equal

protection claim as one under the Fifth Amendment.

Rodriguez also alleged a violation of the JSSA, but we need not con-

sider this claim independently, because “[t]he test for a constitutionally

selected jury is the same whether challenged under the Sixth Amendment

of the Constitution or under the Jury Selection and Service Act.” United

States v. Sanchez-Lopez, 879 F.2d 541, 546 (9th Cir. 1989) (citation and

internal quotation marks omitted).

UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA 11603

from the master jury wheel, and for the group of individuals

placed into the qualified jury wheel. Using this data, Rodri-

guez alleged a substantial disparity between the proportion of

Hispanics in the subset of the population old enough to serve

on federal juries (the “age-eligible” population) and the pro-

portion of Hispanics in the qualified jury wheel.3 Incorporat-

ing some of the arguments from the expert declaration he had

attached to his second motion, Rodriguez asserted that the

reason for the disparity was the Fresno Division’s use of voter

lists as the sole source of names for the master jury wheel.

The day before trial, the court denied Rodriguez’s motions

for the final time. In the view of the district court, Rodriguez

was required to show a disparity between Hispanic represen-

tation in the qualified jury wheel and Hispanic representation

in the subset of the population meeting all the federal juror-

eligibility requirements (the “jury-eligible population”), not

merely the general or age-eligible population, and the court

characterized the government’s “supplemental voter informa-

tion exhibit” as showing that for a portion of the Fresno Divi-

sion, the jury-eligible population was approximately 17%

Hispanic even though the total population was approximately

30% Hispanic.4 The court noted that challenges to jury pool

composition in the Eastern District of California had been

rejected by the Ninth Circuit in 1996 and by the Eastern Dis-

trict in 2003.5 According to the court, the “best way” to deter-

3

Rodriguez alleged an “absolute disparity” of 37.4%, a figure that is not

borne out by the data. As we shall explain, the data do reflect substantial

underrepresentation of Hispanics, just not to the extent Rodriguez claims.

4

The court mischaracterized the government’s data. For the state assem-

bly district in question, the 17% figure represented the proportion of the

registered-voter population that was Hispanic, not the proportion of the

jury-eligible population that was Hispanic.

5

The Ninth Circuit case to which the court referred, United States v.

Jones, was an unpublished memorandum disposition. 91 F.3d 156 (9th

Cir. 1996). The district court case, United States v. Luong, rejected a chal-

lenge to jury composition in the Sacramento Division, not the Fresno Divi-

sion, of the Eastern District. 255 F. Supp. 2d 1123, 1126, 1131 (E.D. Cal.

2003).

11604 UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA

mine if Rodriguez’s fair cross-section and equal protection

rights were being violated “is to see who shows up tomorrow

in the jury panel. And we will get a very good look. And if

you don’t believe that there is a fair representation there, you

can object and if it isn’t a representative panel, we don’t have

to proceed to trial.” The court further observed that “in the

last 15 to 20 cases, we get very, very strong Hispanic repre-

sentation.” Not “see[ing] anything more that has been submit-

ted than when we started this process,” and because of “the

insufficiency of the factual showing which didn’t require an

expert,” the court denied Rodriguez’s motions to dismiss and

to have an expert appointed.6

Rodriguez was convicted after a one-day trial.

At sentencing, the court applied a 16-level enhancement

because Rodriguez had been previously deported following a

conviction for a drug trafficking offense — a state felony con-

viction for transport of methamphetamine — for which he had

received a sentence greater than 13 months. See U.S. Sentenc-

ing Guidelines Manual § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(I) (2002). After

Rodriguez expressed deep regret for returning to the United

States, the court gave a two-level reduction for acceptance of

responsibility under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(a), but declined to give

a third level because the case went to trial and therefore the

acceptance of responsibility was not timely (though the judge

denied that he was penalizing Rodriguez for going to trial).

Rodriguez did not object to the judge’s failure to give a three-

6

The following day, on the morning of trial, the court indicated it was

supplementing the record of the denial of Rodriguez’s motion with addi-

tional statistics provided by the government. The relevance of these statis-

tics, which reflect demographics for the total population and the registered

voter population of State Board of Equalization District Two, is unclear.

The Fresno Division includes 11 counties. State Board of Equalization

District Two includes 31 entire counties and portions of 3 others. Some

counties partially included in District Two, such as San Bernardino and

Los Angeles, are not even part of the federal Eastern District, much less

the Fresno Division.

UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA 11605

level reduction. Applying the resulting sentencing range, the

court sentenced Rodriguez to 77 months imprisonment, along

with a special assessment of $100 (waived) and three years of

supervised release.

Rodriguez timely appealed, and we have jurisdiction under

28 U.S.C. § 1291.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Jury Composition Challenges / Failure to Appoint an

Expert

A district court’s denial of a request for public funds to hire

an expert is reviewed for abuse of discretion. United States v.

Nelson, 137 F.3d 1094, 1101 n.2 (9th Cir. 1998). A challenge

to the composition of grand or petit juries is reviewed “inde-

pendently and non-deferentially.” Thomas v. Borg, 159 F.3d

1147, 1149 (9th Cir. 1998) (citation and internal quotation

marks omitted).

[1] Federal law provides that a district judge shall authorize

the provision of expert services to a defendant financially

unable to obtain them where such services are necessary for

adequate representation. 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(e)(1). It is an

abuse of discretion to deny a request for an expert under this

provision where (1) “reasonably competent counsel would

have required the assistance of the requested expert for a pay-

ing client,” and (2) the defendant “was prejudiced by the lack

of expert assistance.” Nelson, 137 F.3d at 1101 n.2 (citation

and internal quotation marks omitted). Prejudice must be

shown by clear and convincing evidence. Id. Therefore,

Rodriguez’s claim that an expert should have been appointed

must be evaluated in the context of the underlying claims for

which he asserts he ought to have been given expert help.

Rodriguez’s two challenges to the representativeness of the

Fresno Division jury pool are related but distinct. In Cas-

11606 UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA

taneda v. Partida, 430 U.S. 482 (1977), the Supreme Court

laid out the following procedure for making out a prima facie

case for an equal protection violation in the jury selection pro-

cedures:

[1] The first step is to establish that the group is one

that is a recognizable, distinct class, singled out for

different treatment under the laws, as written or as

applied. [2] Next, the degree of underrepresentation

must be proved, by comparing the proportion of the

group in the total population to the proportion called

to serve as . . . jurors, over a significant period of

time. . . . [3] Finally . . . a selection procedure that

is susceptible of abuse or is not racially neutral sup-

ports the presumption of discrimination raised by the

statistical showing.

Id. at 494 (citations omitted). These elements, if shown, raise

the inference of discriminatory intent: “Once the defendant

has shown substantial underrepresentation of his group, he

has made out a prima facie case of discriminatory purpose.”

Id. at 495. At that point, “the burden of proof shifts to the

State to rebut the presumption of unconstitutional action by

showing that permissible racially neutral selection criteria and

procedures have produced the monochromatic result.” Id. at

494 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

[2] To establish a prima facie case for a violation of the

Sixth Amendment’s fair cross-section requirement, under

Duren v. Missouri, 439 U.S. 357 (1979), the defendant must

show:

(1) that the group alleged to be excluded is a “dis-

tinctive” group in the community; (2) that the repre-

sentation of this group in venires from which juries

are selected is not fair and reasonable in relation to

the number of such persons in the community; and

UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA 11607

(3) that this underrepresentation is due to systematic

exclusion of the group in the jury-selection process.

Id. at 364. Unlike the equal protection challenge, the fair

cross-section claim does not require a showing that the selec-

tion procedure is susceptible of abuse or not race-neutral; the

defendant must only show that the exclusion of his or her

group is “systematic.” Once the defendant has established a

prima facie case, the burden shifts to the government to show

that “a significant state interest be manifestly and primarily

advanced by those aspects of the jury-selection process . . .

that result in the disproportionate exclusion of a distinctive

group.” Id. at 367-68; see also Thomas, 159 F.3d at 1150.

The selection of a grand or petit jury in violation of either

the equal protection or the fair cross-section guarantee is

structural error that entitles a defendant to relief without a

demonstration of prejudice. See Vasquez v. Hillery, 474 U.S.

254, 263-64 (1986) (plurality and majority portions); United

States v. Okiyama, 521 F.2d 601, 604 (9th Cir. 1975) (per

curiam); see also Taylor v. Louisiana, 419 U.S. 522, 530

(1975) (describing the fair cross-section requirement as “fun-

damental to the jury trial guaranteed by the Sixth Amend-

ment”).

1. Fair Cross-Section

[3] We begin with the Sixth Amendment claim. Rodri-

guez’s claim clearly satisfies the first prong of Duren. Hispan-

ics have long been recognized as a “distinctive” group in the

community. See United States v. Sanchez-Lopez, 879 F.2d

541, 547 (9th Cir. 1989) (citing Castaneda, 430 U.S. at 495).

The second prong of the Duren test requires the defendant

to show that the distinctive group is underrepresented in jury

venires “in relation to the number of such persons in the com-

munity.” Duren, 439 U.S. at 364. This standard seems clear

enough — it is to the community that comparisons must be

11608 UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA

made for the purposes of a fair cross-section claim. Here,

however, the district court faulted Rodriguez’s showing —

which compared jury pool Hispanic representation to His-

panic representation in the age-eligible population — for fail-

ing to make a comparison to Hispanic representation in the

jury-eligible population.

[4] The weight of Supreme Court and circuit authority

teaches that, for purposes of the prima facie case, the propor-

tion of the distinctive group in the jury pool is to be compared

with the proportion of the group in the whole community. In

Duren itself, the Supreme Court required the defendant to

show “that the representation of this group in venires from

which juries are selected is not fair and reasonable in relation

to the number of such persons in the community.” Id. (empha-

sis added). The Court then elaborated that “the fair-cross-

section requirement involves a comparison of the makeup of

jury venires or other sources from which jurors are drawn

with the makeup of the community, not of voter registration

lists.” Id. at 365 n.23 (emphasis in original). Noting that no

evidence in the record undermined the numbers proffered by

the defendant, the Supreme Court evaluated the defendant’s

prima facie case using census data showing the proportion of

age-eligible members of the distinctive group at issue. Id. at

364 n.21, 365 & n.23. The Supreme Court has subsequently

reiterated that “[t]he second prong of Duren is met by demon-

strating that the [distinctive] group is underrepresented in pro-

portion to its position in the community as documented by

census figures.” Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288, 301 n.1 (1989)

(plurality portion) (emphasis added).

Other Supreme Court authority reflects a similarly permis-

sive view of the requirements of a prima facie showing of

underrepresentation. In Castaneda, for example, the Supreme

Court allowed the defendant to use total population figures to

establish a prima facie case in the related context of an equal

protection challenge to jury composition. 430 U.S. at 495-96.

Similarly, in Turner v. Fouche, 396 U.S. 346 (1970), the

UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA 11609

Supreme Court evaluated the representativeness of a grand

jury source list by comparison with minority representation

within the general population of the relevant county. Id. at

359. And in Alexander v. Louisiana, 405 U.S. 625 (1972), the

Supreme Court analyzed a prima facie case for an equal pro-

tection violation using census data reflecting the proportion of

the distinctive group among the age-eligible population,

whom the Court characterized as “presumptively eligible for

grand jury service,” even as it acknowledged that state law

disqualified potential jurors based on non-residency, illiter-

acy, alienage, disability, and criminal history, as well as age.

Id. at 627 & n.4.

Following the Supreme Court’s lead, our circuit’s fair

cross-section cases treat total population figures as an appro-

priate basis for comparison for the purposes of a prima facie

case under Duren. See, e.g., United States v. Suttiswad, 696

F.2d 645, 648 n.3 (9th Cir. 1982); United States v. Armstrong,

621 F.2d 951, 955-56 (9th Cir. 1980) (Kennedy, J.). In United

States v. Sanchez-Lopez, we specifically confronted the gov-

ernment’s objection that a defendant’s statistical analysis

based on census data did not take into account the proportion

of Hispanics (the distinctive group there in question) who

were ineligible for jury service. 879 F.2d at 547. Citing Duren

and Castaneda, we squarely rejected the proposition “that the

defendants were required to provide jury eligible population

figures.” Id. Instead, “[b]ecause the government . . . failed to

present any evidence that contradicted appellants’ figures, we

will assume for purposes of this analysis that the statistics are

valid.” Id. This circuit has generally continued to adhere to

the Duren/Sanchez-Lopez view that the defendant need not

come forward with jury-eligible population data in order to

make a prima facie case. See, e.g., Randolph v. California,

380 F.3d 1133, 1140 (9th Cir. 2004); Thomas, 159 F.3d at

1150; Nelson, 137 F.3d at 1101.

[5] Our case law reflects one corollary to this rule: where

the record contains population data broken down by age, the

11610 UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA

representativeness of the jury pool is to be compared to this

refined set of data for the purpose of the defendant’s prima

facie case under Duren. See United States v. Esquivel, 88 F.3d

722, 726-27 (9th Cir. 1996) (opinion of T.G. Nelson, J.,

announcing the judgment of the panel).7 Although the

Supreme Court’s acceptance of comparisons using total popu-

lation figures clearly indicates that a defendant is not required

to gather data reflecting the age-eligible population of the dis-

tinctive group in question, see, e.g., Castaneda, 430 U.S. at

495-96, our use of age-eligible data where available comports

with the Supreme Court’s analysis in Duren itself, which

relied on census data reflecting the proportion of the distinc-

tive group in the adult population, see 439 U.S. at 362.

[6] Two of our cases appear to be in conflict with the

Supreme Court and with the Sanchez-Lopez line of cases. See

United States v. Artero, 121 F.3d 1256, 1261-62 (9th Cir.

1997) (requiring a fair-cross-section claimant to compile data

reflecting the jury-eligible — not merely age-eligible — pop-

ulation in order to make the representativeness comparison for

the second prong of the prima facie case); Sanders v. Wood-

ford, 373 F.3d 1054, 1069-70 (9th Cir. 2004) (following

Artero).8 However, given the overwhelming weight of our

own prior case law and (more importantly) that of the

Supreme Court, we must adhere to our longstanding authority

that the defendant’s prima facie case for a fair-cross section

claim may rely on a comparison to total population data or,

where available in the record, age-eligible population data.

7

Judge Kleinfeld concurred only in the result; Judge Boochever, in a

“concurrence and partial dissent,” would have preferred to remand to the

district court instead of taking judicial notice of the data reflecting the age-

eligible population. See id. at 728-29.

8

Prior to Artero, one other Ninth Circuit case suggested, without discus-

sion or citation, that the appropriate comparison group for the second

Duren prong is the “number of eligible minorities.” United States v. Can-

nady, 54 F.3d 544, 548 (9th Cir. 1995). The decision did not elaborate on

this proposition or clarify whether it was referring to age-eligible or jury-

eligible minorities.

UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA 11611

Sanchez-Lopez is the binding precedent of our circuit, which

a three-judge panel may not overrule absent intervening

Supreme Court or en banc authority (of which we have found

none). See Obrey v. Johnson, 400 F.3d 691, 699-701 (9th Cir.

2005) (recognizing and resolving tension among Ninth Circuit

cases applying conflicting versions of the harmless error stan-

dard in civil cases); see also H & D Tire & Automotive-

Hardware, Inc. v. Pitney Bowes, Inc., 227 F.3d 326, 330 (5th

Cir. 2000) (“When panel opinions appear to conflict, we are

bound to follow the earlier opinion.”).9

9

While its precedential pedigree and fidelity to Supreme Court jurispru-

dence are what compel us to follow the view reflected in Sanchez-Lopez

and Esquivel, our conclusion is fortified by the evident wisdom of this

position on its merits.

Whereas census data are readily accessible, jury-eligible population

data will often be quite hard for fair-cross-section claimants to obtain,

given the difficulty of sorting out from the general population figures the

number of individuals who (for example) are not citizens, who are not flu-

ent in English, or who are “incapable, by reason of mental or physical

infirmity, to render satisfactory jury service.” 28 U.S.C. § 1865(b) (federal

jury qualifications). Other courts have noted the potentially “insuperable”

burden that requiring such data could place on fair-cross-section claim-

ants, United States v. Butera, 420 F.2d 564, 569 n.13 (1st Cir. 1970), over-

ruled on other grounds, Barber v. Ponte, 772 F.2d 982, 996 (1st Cir.

1985) (en banc), as well as scholars’ conclusion that “eligible population

figures are almost impossible to obtain.” People v. Harris, 679 P.2d 433,

442 (Cal. 1984) (plurality opinion) (quoting David Kairys et al., Jury Rep-

resentativeness: A Mandate for Multiple Source Lists, 65 Cal. L. Rev. 776,

785 n.63 (1977) (internal quotation marks omitted)), not followed on other

grounds, People v. Sanders, 797 P.2d 561, 570-72 (Cal. 1990); see also

Hon. Walter P. Gewin, An Analysis of Jury Selection Decisions, Appen-

dix to Foster v. Sparks, 506 F.2d 805, 811, 833 (5th Cir. 1975). Requiring

a fair-cross-section claimant to come forward with a comparison to the

jury-eligible population thus risks placing one of the elements of the prima

facie case for equal protection and fair cross-section claims out of reach,

thereby insulating jury selection systems from judicial scrutiny entirely.

So it stands to reason that none of the Supreme Court’s cases has

charged a fair-cross-section claimant with the affirmative obligation to

compile data reflecting the jury-eligible population. In fact, we have found

no case, before or after Duren, in which the Supreme Court rejected a

prima facie showing of underrepresentation because of a failure to provide

11612 UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA

Under the Duren/Sanchez-Lopez approach, the data Rodri-

guez has presented satisfies the second prong of the prima

facie case for a fair cross-section violation. Our case law has

settled on “absolute disparity” — the difference between the

percentage of the distinctive group in the community and the

percentage of that group in the jury pool — as the appropriate

measure of the representativeness of the jury pool. See

Sanchez-Lopez, 879 F.2d at 547.10 We have declined to find

underrepresentation of a distinctive group where the absolute

statistics reflecting the distinctive group’s proportion in the jury-eligible

— as opposed to the general or age-eligible — population. To reiterate the

Supreme Court’s admonition in Duren, “the fair-cross-section requirement

involves a comparison of the makeup of jury venires or other sources from

which jurors are drawn with the makeup of the community.” 439 U.S. at

365 n.23 (emphasis in original).

10

The main alternative measure of representativeness is “comparative

disparity,” which is determined by taking the absolute disparity percentage

and dividing it by the percentage of the distinctive group in the total popu-

lation. See Sanchez-Lopez, 879 F.2d at 548. For example, if Hispanics are

20% of the community and 5% of the jury pool, the absolute disparity is

15% (20% minus 5%), and the comparative disparity is 75% (15% divided

by 20%).

Each measure has its limitations. The comparative disparity method can

distort the effect of disparities in representation when absolute numbers

are low. See, e.g., Armstrong, 621 F.2d at 955-56. For example, if Hispan-

ics are 2% of the community and 1% of the jury pool, the comparative dis-

parity is 50%, but for every 100 jurors, there is only one fewer Hispanic

than would be proportional.

However, absolute disparity is also problematic. For example, our cir-

cuit has tolerated absolute disparities in distinctive group representation of

up to 7.7%. See Suttiswad, 696 F.2d at 649. The necessary implication of

this margin is that if a distinctive group makes up 7.7% or less of the com-

munity, then the fair cross-section requirement offers no redress even if

that group is entirely shut out of the jury pool. See Kairys et al., 65 Cal.

L. Rev. at 793 (“[I]n the 11% black jurisdiction, the 10% absolute dispar-

ity amounts to almost total exclusion of black people.”).

While Ninth Circuit precedent requires us to evaluate representativeness

using absolute disparity statistics alone, that approach is not without short-

comings.

UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA 11613

disparity was 7.7% or lower, see Suttiswad, 696 F.2d at 649

(7.7% disparity); Thomas, 159 F.3d at 1151 (collecting cases),

while we have found a 15.4% absolute disparity sufficient to

satisfy the second prong of the Duren test, and cited with

approval another circuit’s recognition of the significance of a

14.1% disparity, see Randolph, 380 F.3d at 1140 (citing Ram-

seur v. Beyer, 983 F.2d 1215, 1232 (3d Cir. 1992) (en banc)).

[7] In Rodriguez’s case, the JS-12 data and the 2000 census

data for the age-eligible population show an absolute disparity

of 14.55% between the percentage of age-eligible Hispanics

in the Fresno Division population (35.21%) and the percent-

age of Hispanics in the subset of the jury pool for which eth-

nicity information is available (20.66%).11 A 14.55% absolute

disparity falls within the range of disparities that we have rec-

ognized as significant for the purpose of establishing underre-

presentation in the context of a prima facie case. Therefore

Rodriguez has satisfied the second Duren prong.12

The third Duren prong requires a showing that the underre-

presentation results from a systematic exclusion of the distinc-

11

Our calculations are set out in an Appendix to this opinion. Two

points should be noted. First, we use the age-eligible population figures

that are available in the record. See Esquivel, 88 F.3d at 726-27 (opinion

of T.G. Nelson, J., announcing the judgment of the panel).

Second, to address the problem of the 24% of the qualified jury wheel

whose ethnicity was unreported, the ethnicity percentages were recalcu-

lated as a percentage of the jurors whose ethnicity was reported. In other

words, to avoid distorting the numbers by using the percentage of reported

Hispanics as a percentage of all prospective jurors including those not

reporting their ethnicity (an approach that would unrealistically assume

that none of the jurors not reporting their ethnicity were Hispanic), the

individuals not reporting were simply not included in the percentage cal-

culations. Therefore the calculations reflect no assumptions about the eth-

nicity of those not reporting.

12

The district court rejected Rodriguez’s claim in part based on the

judge’s personal observations about the representativeness of the juries he

has seen. The case law provides no support for taking such observations

into account under Duren.

11614 UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA

tive group in the jury-selection process. Under Duren,

“disproportionate exclusion of a distinctive group from the

venire need not be intentional to be unconstitutional, but it

must be systematic.” Randolph, 380 F.3d at 1141. Courts

have found systematic exclusion to be shown, for example,

where a jury selection system allowed women to opt out of

service more easily than men, where a computer error resulted

in the exclusion of individuals from two regions where a large

proportion of racial and ethnic minorities lived, and where

jurors were selected based on wholly subjective criteria. Id.

(citing Duren itself, United States v. Jackman, 46 F.3d 1240

(2d Cir. 1995), and Gibson v. Zant, 705 F.2d 1543 (11th Cir.

1983), for these examples). We determined that a defendant

failed to satisfy the “systematic exclusion” prong where he

presented a hypothesis as to the cause of Hispanic underrepre-

sentation but “presented no evidence to support this sugges-

tion.” Id. at 1141.

[8] In this case, Rodriguez has claimed that systematic

exclusion of Hispanics results from the Fresno Division’s use

of voter registration lists as the sole source of names for its

master jury wheel. In support of this contention, Rodriguez

offered a 1992 declaration prepared for another case by Pro-

fessor J. Dennis Willigan, a sociology professor involved in

several jury underrepresentation cases, who asserted that the

practice of selecting jurors from voter registration lists under-

represents racial and ethnic minorities. Rodriguez also cited

People v. Harris, in which a plurality of the California

Supreme Court concluded that a defendant had satisfied the

“systematic exclusion” prong of Duren with a sufficient

showing that underrepresentation results from the use of voter

registration lists as the sole source of names for the jury pool.

679 P.2d at 446 (plurality opinion). Relatedly, the concur-

rence in Harris alluded to “published studies which point to

the exclusive reliance upon voter registration lists as a likely

source of racial and ethnic disparity in the composition of

juries.” Id. at 455 (Grodin, J., concurring in the judgment).13

13

In People v. Sanders, the California Supreme Court refused to read

Harris as standing for the proposition that “sole reliance on voter registra-

UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA 11615

However, Rodriguez was not able to provide evidence linking

sole reliance on voter registration lists for jury selection to

current systematic exclusion of Hispanics in the Fresno Divi-

sion. Rodriguez’s failure of proof leaves his prima facie case

unfinished.

2. Appointment of an Expert

If the issue before us were the underlying question of

whether Rodriguez had made out a prima facie case for dis-

missing his indictment on Sixth Amendment grounds, on this

record we would have to answer no. But the question we must

answer is whether Rodriguez was entitled to have expert

assistance to help him establish the underlying claim.

[9] Rodriguez’s failure to complete his prima facie case is

not fatal to his appeal of the denial of his motion to have an

tion lists in assembling the master jury list is constitutionally prohibited.”

797 P.2d at 570-71. The court distinguished Harris on the ground that the

court’s understanding of the prima facie case for a fair cross-section viola-

tion had changed since that decision; under the California Supreme

Court’s new interpretation, a defendant had to demonstrate that selection

procedures were themselves constitutionally impermissible or being

applied in a constitutionally objectionable manner. Id. at 571-72. As the

California Supreme Court’s revised understanding of the prima facie case

under Duren is not a view our circuit has shared, the Harris plurality’s

recognition of the exclusionary effect of the use of voter registration lists

as the sole source for jury pools retains some persuasive value for us in

the following limited sense: Harris suggests that Rodriguez’s theory about

the effect of sole reliance on voter registration lists is quite plausible rather

than fanciful.

It bears noting that challenges to the use of voter registration lists as the

sole source for jury pools have not met with success in the federal courts.

See generally United States v. Cecil, 836 F.2d 1431, 1445-49 (4th Cir.

1988) (en banc) (collecting cases and discussing the history of such chal-

lenges in the courts). However, defendants’ failure to support such chal-

lenges in the past does not preclude the possibility that Rodriguez may do

so here. For the purposes of this case, the important point is that there is

some empirical and legal support for Rodriguez’s theory, even if it has not

generally been a successful one.

11616 UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA

expert appointed. Indeed, conditioning the entitlement to an

expert on a defendant’s establishing a prima facie case would

make little sense: such a rule would provide assistance to a

defendant only upon a demonstration that he does not require

it. Instead, we must determine whether (1) “reasonably com-

petent counsel would have required the assistance of the

requested expert for a paying client,” and (2) the defendant

“was prejudiced by the lack of expert assistance.” Nelson, 137

F.3d at 1101 n.2 (citation and internal quotation marks omit-

ted).

[10] Under the circumstances presented here, we conclude

that both prongs of the test are satisfied. Although Rodriguez

has not established a prima facie case for a fair cross-section

violation, he has made a substantial showing sufficient to war-

rant further inquiry. Rodriguez has shown that Hispanics are

substantially underrepresented in the Fresno Division jury

pool, and Rodriguez has alleged (with some support, though

no particularized evidence) a plausible theory of systematic

exclusion: specifically, that the use of voter registration

records as the sole source of names for the Fresno Division

jury pool systematically underrepresents Hispanics. An expert

would be able to investigate whether Hispanics have been

systematically excluded and potentially provide the necessary

information to complete Rodriguez’s prima facie case. This is

precisely the type of situation in which reasonably competent

counsel would require the services of an expert for a paying

client: the defendant has alleged a dispositive defense that is

supported in substantial measure by the evidence available but

which cannot be fully developed without the help of an

expert.

[11] In order to demonstrate that the district court abused

its discretion in failing to appoint an expert, Rodriguez must

also show by clear and convincing evidence that the court’s

failure to do so prejudiced him. No Ninth Circuit case appears

UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA 11617

to have addressed the prejudicial effect on a fair cross-section

claim of a district court’s failure to appoint an expert.14

If prejudice means that the defendant must show his

defense would have been successful, then obviously Rodri-

guez’s claim must fail. However, such a narrow understand-

ing would put nearly all defendants in a catch-22 and reduce

the statutory provision for federal funding for expert services

to an empty promise: the expert’s services would only be

available upon the showing of a meritorious defense, and the

defense could only be shown with the help of an expert.

In the few cases in which we have had occasion to elabo-

rate on the meaning of the standard of 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(e),

we have rejected this narrow understanding. In United States

v. Hartfield, 513 F.2d 254 (9th Cir. 1975), abrogated on other

grounds, United States v. Sneezer, 900 F.2d 177, 179 n.3 (9th

Cir. 1990), for example, we held that the denial of defendant’s

motion to obtain an electroencephalogram (EEG) was an

abuse of discretion “because the only defense available to

[Hartfield] was a defense that turned on his mental condition.”

Id. at 258. We did not require the defendant to show that an

EEG would have provided a successful defense. Similarly, in

United States v. Bass, 477 F.2d 723 (9th Cir. 1973), we held

that the district court’s failure to appoint a psychiatric expert

for the defense was an abuse of discretion because the defen-

dant’s “family and personal history indicated that an insanity

defense might be appropriate.” Id. at 725. In that case, the

defendant was entitled to an expert notwithstanding our

acknowledgment that “we cannot predict the outcome of an

examination conducted by [the requested] expert.” Id. at 726.

By contrast, in United States v. Labansat, 94 F.3d 527 (9th

14

In the published cases involving the denial of an expert in this context,

panels have denied relief based on the defendant’s failure to show that rea-

sonably competent counsel would have required the services of an expert,

not on the basis of a failure to demonstrate prejudice. See Nelson, 137 F.3d

at 1101 n.2; Suttiswad, 696 F.2d at 649; Armstrong, 621 F.2d at 956.

11618 UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA

Cir. 1996), we held that a bank robbery defendant was not

prejudiced by the district court’s refusal to authorize public

funding for the hiring of an expert on eyewitness identifica-

tion to discredit prosecution witnesses, because the evidence

against the defendant was overwhelming: numerous witnesses

identified the defendant as the robber, the defendant’s vehicle

was at the scene of the crime, the gloves worn by the robber

were found in the defendant’s possession, and the jury saw

bank surveillance photographs of the robber, who was identi-

fied as the defendant by his own sister. Id. at 529-30.

[12] These cases illustrate that the function of the prejudice

inquiry is to prevent appellate courts from second-guessing

district judges in cases in which the requested services could

not have mattered to the outcome, not to force the defendant

to prove that the requested expenditure would necessarily

have produced a different result. Thus, while the wealth of

evidence against the defendant in Labansat demonstrated that

the denial of expert assistance did not prejudice him, the

court’s inability to predict what the expert services requested

in Hartfield and Bass would reveal did not foreclose relief in

those cases.

[13] The circumstances here resemble those in Hartfield

and Bass. Like the defendants in those cases, Rodriguez has

requested expert services in furtherance of a claim that would,

if meritorious, change the outcome of the case. As in Hart-

field and Bass, we cannot say for certain whether the expert

services, if provided, would vindicate the defendant’s claim.

But such uncertainty was not fatal to the defendants’ respec-

tive appeals in those cases, and we therefore conclude that it

is not fatal here. Of course, defendants should not be permit-

ted to delay proceedings and sap valuable judicial resources

with frivolous allegations of claims or defenses that tend to

require expert help to establish. Rodriguez’s fair cross-section

claim, however, is far from a shot in the dark: Rodriguez has

established two of the three prongs of the Duren prima facie

case and alleged a plausible theory in support of the third. We

UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA 11619

hold that, under the circumstances, it was an abuse of discre-

tion not to grant him the expert help he requested to try to

make out his fair cross-section claim.

[14] We express no opinion as to the likelihood that Rodri-

guez’s fair cross-section claim will ultimately succeed, as we

do not know what a study of the matter will reveal. We there-

fore decline currently to vacate Rodriguez’s conviction. We

reverse only the denial of his motion to have an expert

appointed, and we remand for further proceedings. Once the

expert has done his or her work, the district court will be in

a position to reassess Rodriguez’s underlying motion to dis-

miss the indictment. If Rodriguez establishes the prima facie

case, the burden will shift to the government in accordance

with Duren. If, at that point, the government cannot carry its

burden, then the district court must grant Rodriguez’s motion

to dismiss the indictment and set aside the conviction.15

B. Application of Sentencing Guidelines on Acceptance

of Responsibility

A district court’s application of the federal Sentencing

Guidelines is reviewed de novo. United States v. Nielsen, 371

F.3d 574, 582 (9th Cir. 2004).

Rodriguez argues that he was entitled to an additional one-

level reduction in his sentencing range because of his accep-

tance of responsibility. The Guidelines provide for a two-level

reduction for acceptance of responsibility, see U.S. Sentenc-

ing Guidelines Manual § 3E1.1(a) (2002), and an additional

one-level reduction for defendants at level 16 or greater where

the defendant has assisted authorities by “(1) timely providing

complete information to the government concerning his own

15

Because our analysis of the fair cross-section claim has led us to con-

clude that the district court should have appointed an expert, we need not

consider whether Rodriguez’s showing on his equal protection claim also

entitled him to the requested expert.

11620 UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA

involvement in the offense,” or “(2) timely notifying authori-

ties of his intention to enter a plea of guilty,” or both, id.

§ 3E1.1(b).

A district court commits reversible error if it fails to apply

the additional one-level reduction where the defendant has

satisfied either subsection of U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(b). United

States v. Ruelas-Arreguin, 219 F.3d 1056, 1062 (9th Cir.

2000). In applying these Guideline provisions, “a judge can-

not rely upon the fact that a defendant refuses to plead guilty

and insists on his right to trial as the basis for denying an

acceptance of responsibility adjustment.” United States v.

Ochoa-Gaytan, 265 F.3d 837, 842 (9th Cir. 2001).

This case is unusual. Before the initiation of his prosecu-

tion, Rodriguez told an immigration officer that he was a citi-

zen of Mexico, that he had previously been deported from the

United States, and that he did not have official permission to

return here. Rodriguez thus admitted all the elements of a vio-

lation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326, the crime for which he was con-

victed. See Ninth Circuit Model Criminal Jury Instructions 9.5

(2003). Nonetheless, Rodriguez exercised his right to require

the government to carry its burden to prove his guilt. At sen-

tencing, the district court gave a two-level reduction for

acceptance, but declined to give a third level “because we

went to trial, and we didn’t have [the acceptance of responsi-

bility] timely.” Despite the district court’s statement to Rodri-

guez that the court was “not going to hold it against you in

any way [that] you went to trial,” this is exactly what the

court did.

[15] Because Rodriguez “timely provid[ed] complete infor-

mation to the government concerning his own involvement in

the offense,” U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual

§ 3E1.1(b)(1) (2002), he was entitled to the additional one-

level reduction for acceptance of responsibility. Ruelas-

Arreguin, 219 F.3d at 1062. The district court erred in not

UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA 11621

granting that reduction and in penalizing Rodriguez for going

to trial. The government concedes as much.

Because Rodriguez did not object at sentencing, the panel

must review for plain error, which is “(1) error, (2) that is

plain, and (3) that affects substantial rights.” United States v.

Ameline, 409 F.3d 1073, 1078 (9th Cir. 2005) (en banc) (cita-

tion and internal quotation marks omitted). “If these three

conditions of the plain error test are met, an appellate court

may exercise its discretion to notice a forfeited error that (4)

seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of

judicial proceedings.” Id. (citation and internal quotation

marks omitted).

As we have explained, the district court erred when it gave

Rodriguez two levels instead of three for acceptance of

responsibility. The district court’s error was plain, because it

is contrary to the law at the time of Rodriguez’s appeal. Id.

(citation and internal quotation marks omitted). We also con-

clude that Rodriguez’s substantial rights were affected:

because he was entitled to a lower Guideline range than that

under which he was actually sentenced, the outcome of Rodri-

guez’s sentencing was affected such that our confidence in

that outcome is undermined. Cf. Glover v. United States, 531

U.S. 198, 202-04 (2001) (holding, in the ineffective-

assistance-of-counsel context, that any increase in a defen-

dant’s sentence is prejudicial); United States v. Dominguez

Benitez, 124 S. Ct. 2333, 2339-40 (2004) (likening the plain-

error “substantial rights” inquiry to the prejudice standard

applicable to, among other things, claims of ineffective assis-

tance of counsel).16

16

Our substantial rights analysis is unaffected by the advisory nature of

the Sentencing Guidelines in the wake of United States v. Booker, 125

S. Ct. 738 (2005), for we have held that a pre-Booker misapplication of the

Guidelines still requires that the resulting sentence be vacated, notwith-

standing the transformations in sentencing law wrought by Booker. See

Ameline, 409 F.3d at 1085-86; United States v. Kimbrew, 406 F.3d 1149,

1154 (9th Cir. 2005).

11622 UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA

Finally, we conclude that the error seriously affected the

fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the proceedings,

because the district court penalized Rodriguez for exercising

his constitutional right to go to trial. The unfairness of penal-

izing a defendant for exercising his legal rights has long been

recognized in our national jurisprudence and needs no elabo-

ration. See, e.g., North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 724

(1969); Griffin v. California, 380 U.S. 609, 614-15 (1965). It

is equally clear that public confidence in the justice system is

jeopardized by any such practice, in which basic rights are

undercut by the very institution charged with their protection.

Cf. Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438, 485 (1928)

(Brandeis, J., dissenting) (“Our government is the potent, the

omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole

people by its example.”) We therefore have no difficulty con-

cluding that the sentencing error in Rodriguez’s case, though

a small one, seriously affected the fairness, integrity, or public

reputation of the judicial proceeding.

[16] We hold that the district court’s failure to give the

third level of the acceptance-of-responsibility reduction was

plain error. Rodriguez’s sentence must be vacated.

C. Prior Convictions and Apprendi

[17] Rodriguez also claims his sentence is unconstitutional

under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), and its

progeny, because the fact of his prior conviction for transport

of methamphetamine, which resulted in a 16-level enhance-

ment of Rodriguez’s sentencing range, was not admitted by

Rodriguez or proved to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

Rodriguez’s argument is foreclosed by United States v. Smith,

390 F.3d 661 (9th Cir. 2004), which held that Blakely v.

Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004), did not disturb the “prior

conviction” exception to the Apprendi rule. See Smith, 390

F.3d at 667. This understanding was confirmed in Booker,

which repeated the “prior conviction” exception in its rendi-

tion of the Apprendi rule. See 125 S. Ct. at 756. Finally, Shep-

UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA 11623

ard v. United States, 125 S. Ct. 1254 (2005), does not counsel

a different result, as the district court in this case did not need

to resolve a “disputed fact . . . too far removed from the con-

clusive significance of a prior judicial record.” Id. at 1262

(plurality portion). In this case, Rodriguez’s enhancement was

supported by the abstract of judgment and charging document

for the prior conviction.

CONCLUSION

The issue of jury representativeness is one that goes to the

heart of one of our nation’s fundamental judicial institutions.

“For racial discrimination to result in the exclusion from jury

service of otherwise qualified groups not only violates our

Constitution and the laws enacted under it but is at war with

our basic concepts of a democratic society and a representa-

tive government.” Smith v. Texas, 311 U.S. 128, 130 (1940)

(footnote omitted). If our system of jury selection results in

the systematic exclusion of a distinctive group, we have a

responsibility to discover the problem and remedy it. As a

matter of basic fairness, our Constitution promises individuals

charged with crimes that their juries will represent a fair

cross-section of the community. Rodriguez raises a serious

claim that the our system is not keeping that promise; without

further study, we cannot know for sure that he is wrong.

We hold that the district court abused its discretion in deny-

ing Rodriguez’s motion to have an expert appointed, and that

the district court committed plain error by giving a two-level

rather than a three-level reduction for Rodriguez’s acceptance

of responsibility.

We therefore reverse the district court’s denial of Rodri-

guez’s motion to have an expert appointed, vacate Rodri-

guez’s sentence, and remand for further proceedings

consistent with this opinion, including resentencing, the

appointment of an expert, and the subsequent reconsideration

of Rodriguez’s motion to dismiss the indictment.

REVERSED AND REMANDED; SENTENCE

VACATED.

11624 UNITED STATES v. RODRIGUEZ-LARA

APPENDIX: CALCULATION OF ABSOLUTE

DISPARITY FOR HISPANIC REPRESENTATION IN

FRESNO DIVISION JURY POOL

Age-eligible population for the eleven Fresno Division

counties (2000 Census):

Total Hispanic

Population, Population,

age 18+ age 18+

Fresno 542,982 214,927

Tulare 243,769 109,083

Merced 137,870 55,884

Kings 91,933 736,259

Kern 450,266 150,738

Madera 86,642 33,164

Stanislaus 307,775 83,599

Inyo 13,569 1,338

Tuolumne 43,201 3,319

Mariposa 13,427 945

Calaveras 31,306 1,769 Percent

Fresno Division Hispanic:

Total 1,962,740 691,025 35.21%

Representation in the 2003 Qualified Jury Wheel:

Percent

Percent of those

Total of Total reporting

Hispanic 971 15.77% 20.66%

Non-Hispanic 3728 60.54% 79.34%

Unknown 1459 23.69% --

Total 6158 100% --

Total reporting ethnicity 4699 776.31% 100%

Percent Hispanic of 18+ Population 35.21

– Percent Hispanic in Jury Pool – 20.66

= Absolute Disparity = 14.55%