Peters v. Commonwealth

REED, Justice.

Defendant-appellant, Jesse Peters, was indicted for the murder of his mother. His first trial resulted in conviction, and, in accordance with the jury’s verdict, he was sentenced to be executed. Upon appeal, this court reversed the conviction and directed a new trial, chiefly because jurors who had expressed conscientious scruples against the death penalty had been excused from the jury panel for cause without compliance with the requirements of the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968). See…