State v. Anderson

The most important issue presented by this case concerns the voir dire examination of prospective jurors as to their scruples regarding the infliction of capital punishment upon the defendant. The trial court itself conducted this part of the examination, stating to the veniremen :

“Let me now, then, turn to this matter of your eligibility to serve as a jury in this case, which is the trial of a person charged with a capital offense. No one is eligible to serve on the jury who would not be able to render in a proper case a verdict which the facts and the law would require.

“The indictment in…