Matthews v. State

OPINION

MORRISON, Judge.

The offense is murder with malice; the punishment, death.

We first consider appellant’s contention that the trial court allowed and contributed to the systematic exclusion of prospective jurors who expressed general conscientious scruples against the imposition of the death penalty in violation of Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968).

When originally submitted to this Court the record, by agreement of appellant’s counsel, contained only the voir dire examination of venireman Franklin R. Bar ber (Sr.). 1 Because of the seriousness of…