Brawner v. Smith

Mobley, Justice.

This appeal is from a judgment in a habeas corpus case. The appellant was convicted of murder and given a death sentence on March 9, 1965. The judge hearing the habeas corpus proceeding made findings of fact and law, and determined that the appellant’s conviction was not invalid on any ground made in the habeas corpus petition, but found that his sentence was illegal under the rulings made in Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U. S. 510 (88 SC 1770, 20 LE2d 776), because jurors had been excused for cause by reason of their conscientious opposition to capital punishment. The order…