United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Coleman v. Alabama, 389 U.S. 22 (1967)

Coleman v. Alabama

No. 162, Misc.

Decided October 16, 1967

389 U.S. 22

Syllabus

In an evidentiary hearing, following remand, it appeared that, until petitioner's trial, no Negro had ever served on a grand jury panel and few, if any, on petit jury panels in the county, and that no Negroes served on the grand jury which indicted petitioner or the petit jury which convicted him. The State presented no rebuttal evidence, and the State Supreme Court's statement that the acknowledged disparity "can be explained by a number of other factors," viz., by Negroes moving out of the county, and some disqualifications for felony convictions, held not to rebut petitioner's prima facie case of denial of equal protection of the laws.

Certiorari granted; 280 Ala. 509, 195 So.2d 800, reversed and remanded.