State v. Harper

Lewis, Justice.

The question to be decided in this appeal is whether the ruling of the United States Supreme Court in the recent case of United States v. Jackson, 390 U. S. 570, 88 S. Ct. 1209, 20 L. Ed. (2d) 138, renders constitutionally invalid the South Carolina statutory provisions relating to the imposition of the death penalty for murder. The matter is here on appeal by the State from an order quashing an indictment for murder against the defendant upon the ground that the penalty provisions of our applicable statutes were unconstitutional under the test laid down in Jackson.

The crime of…