Hernandez v. Texas

A grand jury in Jackson County, Texas, indicted Pete Hernandez (defendant), a Mexican American agricultural worker, for murder. Hernandez was tried in state court. Neither the grand jury that indicted Hernandez nor the petit jury at his trial included individuals of Mexican descent. Further, none of the 6,000 jurors who had served in Jackson County over the previous 25 years had been of Mexican descent. At trial, Hernandez moved to quash both his indictment and the jury panel, arguing that individuals of Mexican descent had been systematically excluded from Jackson County juries, denying Hernandez a trial by a jury of his peers and depriving him of his right to equal protection. Hernandez presented evidence that 14 percent of Jackson County residents had Mexican or Latin American surnames and that many of these residents were eligible for jury service. Hernandez also presented evidence that the county’s citizens considered Whites and individuals of Mexican descent to be distinct groups and that individuals of Mexican descent faced discrimination. For example, the county had only recently allowed children of Mexican descent to attend the White elementary school, and the courthouse in which Hernandez was tried had segregated bathrooms. In rebuttal, five jury commissioners testified that they had not discriminated against individuals of Mexican descent. The trial court denied Hernandez’s motion, reasoning that the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause applied only to race and to equality between White people and Black people. Hernandez was convicted of murder. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.