State v. Forcella

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Weintraub, C. J.

On April 8, 1968 the United States Supreme Court decided United States v. Jackson, 390 U. S. 570, 88 S. Ct. 1209, 20 L. Ed. 2d 138, -declaring invalid a federal kidnapping statute under which a defendant who insisted upon trial by jury could suffer the death penalty. Although our homicide statute levies no such burden on an assertion of the right to jury, nonetheless the thesis of Jaclcson is arguably so sweeping as to embrace our statute. In a state of seven million inhabitants wherein homicides unhappily- are prevalent, the question…