Beecher v. Alabama

In 1964 the petitioner was tried and convicted in an Alabama state court for first-degree murder. He was sentenced to death. The conviction was based in large part on written confessions that he had signed five days after his arrest. The petitioner objected to the introduction at trial of these confessions. But the trial court and the Alabama Supreme Court held that the confessions were made voluntarily and were properly received into evidence.

In 1967 this Court summarily reversed that judgment of the Alabama Supreme Court. Beecher v. Alabama, 389 U. S. 35. We said:

“The uncontradicted facts…