United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Maxwell v. Bishop, 398 U.S. 262 (1970)

Maxwell v. Bishop

No. 13

Argued March 4, 1969

Reargued May 4, 1970

Decided June 1, 1970

398 U.S. 262

Syllabus

Petitioner challenged his jury conviction for rape and the sentence of death imposed pursuant to Arkansas law on the grounds that (1) the jury had determined the issues of guilt and sentencing in a single proceeding, thus precluding him from presenting evidence on the penalty issue without subjecting himself to self-incrimination on the guilt issue, and (2) the jury had been given no standards to guide it in sentencing. The District Court denied a writ of habeas corpus, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. Several prospective jurors had been removed for cause from the panel "because they voiced general objections to the death penalty or expressed conscientious or religious scruples against its infliction," which this Court held impermissible in Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U. S. 510, decided after petitioner's trial.

Held: Although the Witherspoon issue was not raised below, the case is remanded to the District Court for consideration of that issue. Boulden v. Holman, 394 U. S. 478.

398 F.2d 138, vacated and remanded.

Page 398 U. S. 263