Herndon v. State

Angelo Herndon was indicted in Fulton County for the offense of attempting to incite an insurrection. The offense is defined in the Penal Code, § 56, as “Any attempt, by persuasion or otherwise, to induce others to join in any combined resistance to the lawful authority of the State.” Section 57 declares that any person convicted of this offense shall be punished by death unless the jury recommend mercy, in which event the punishment shall be confinement in the penitentiary for not less than five nor more than twenty years. In this case the jury found the defendant guilty, but recommended…