Arkwright v. Smith

Duckworth, Chief Justice.

1. Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U. S. 510 (88 SC 1770, 20 LE2d 776), holds that “a sentence of death cannot be carried out if the jury that imposed or recommended it was chosen by excluding veniremen for cause simply because they voiced general objections to the death penalty or expressed conscientious or religious scruples against its infliction,” and the Supreme Court specifically made its decision “fully retroactive” in application. The record on this habeas corpus hearing shows that veniremen were excluded for the reason that they were opposed to capital…