Williams v. State
Williams v. State
Opinion
Murder, first degree: life imprisonment. Trial took place March 17, 1975.
The only points raised by appellant are systematic exclusion of citizens over 65 from the jury roll and fraud in the manner of making up that roll. Under Peters v. Kiff,
The questions were raised below by way of a motion for new trial. The prosecution argues that the question can only be presented by a pre-arraignment proceeding such as motion to quash. However, Coleman v. Alabama,
Thomas v. State,
However, in cases other than those deriving from the Fourteenth Amendment, the approved procedure requires a pre-arraignment motion to quash the venire. See Lipscromb, supra.
Hence, as to the breach of the state law there was no adjectival protection of the record.
Hamling v. United States,
Alabama law, Code 1940, T. 30, § 21, as amended, does not exclude persons over 65 from being put on the jury roll. Rather it *Page 1327 leaves serving after summons to the individual.1
At all events persons over 65 are an identifiable group who should not have been systematically excluded from the jury roll. We say systematically advisedly because the prosecution made no attempt to contradict the defendant's witness, Kathy Bolling, clerk to the jury commission January-April 1975, who testified that in using names taken at random from the voter's list (by computer) she had been instructed to omit those over 65.
We quote from an affidavit made by Bob Kyle, a jury commissioner:
"In the latter part of January 1975 we learned that the Court had set out to draw new venires of jurors for up-coming Jury Weeks and had determined that there were not enough cards left in the Jury Box to constitute one whole venire for one week. We checked up and found that to be true. It is doubtful that there were as many as a hundred or so cards left in the Jury Box for selection.
"On January 31, 1975, we received an order from Judge Fred W. Nicol to refill the Jury Box and re-form the Jury Roll with such cards as were at that time available. We had discussed the matter with him and told him about the old cards not being ready for use at the time that and that the only cards that we had had come from the computer selection of them from the voting list on the computer. He felt that the situation was an emergency and that jurors were immediately necessary in order that our court system could function. We had Mr. Culp come to the Judges office with the available cards and with a printout of them that we felt could be used as a Jury Roll. Judge Nicol agreed and we put in the Jury Box the several thousand jury cards which were the product of our random selections from the voters list.
Thus, on January 31, 1975, the Jury Roll was re-formed and the Jury Box was refilled." [Italics added.]
The defendant was entitled to a cross section of the community without purposeful exclusion, Taylor v. Louisiana,
The judgment below is reversed and the cause is remanded for new trial.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
All the Judges concur, except DeCARLO, J., who dissents.
The prosecution's brief on rehearing in argument ignores:Coleman v. Alabama,
The State took the last three cases to the Supreme Court of Alabama without success. We know that the denial of the discretionary writ of certiorari creates no precedent; however, in view of Sims v. State,
The application is overruled.
OPINION EXTENDED; APPLICATION OVERRULED.
All the Judges concur, except DeCARLO, J., who dissents.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Eugene Williams, Alias v. State.
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published