State v. Atkinson

HUSKINS, Justice.

Appellant first contends that the trial court erred in allowing the State to successfully challenge for cause certain prospective jurors because of their stated views on capital punishment.

The law with regard to this issue is well established. “[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.” Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 20 L. Ed. 2d 776, 88 S.…