Hugh H. Tennon, III v. Dr. James Ricketts, Warden

I respectfully dissent. Tennon stands convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment following an indictment by a grand jury which this record conclusively shows was illegally constituted because of race. The majority holds that Tennon may not challenge the illegal composition of the grand jury because he did not do so before indictment, which this majority deems to be required by a Georgia procedural rule.

My disagreement is based on three distinct grounds. First, at the time of Ten-non’s indictment, trial, and conviction there was no such rule as that relied upon by the majority when…