Law Commons^™

Death Penalty, Josh D. Moore

Mercer Law Review

The Georgia Supreme Court addressed numerous cases touching on the death penalty in our survey period, including the review of four death sentences on direct appeal in Ellington v. State, Rice v. State, Barrett v. State, and Brockman v. State. Three of the death sentences reviewed on direct appeal were affirmed and one was reversed. The court also reversed the decision of a habeas court to vacate a death sentence in Humphrey v. Riley. Several other cases involving the death penalty at various stages of trial were also decided and will be addressed further as …

Morgan V. Illinois: The Defense Gets The Reverse- Witherspoon Question, Thomas Joshua R. Archer

Mercer Law Review

In Morgan v. Illinois the United States Supreme Court settled the "reverse- Witherspoon" question. The Court held that a trial court in a capital case must, upon the defendant's request, specifically inquire into a prospective juror's views on capital punishment and that a potential juror who would always vote for a sentence of death, regardless of the facts, must be struck for cause. Further, the Court stated that the presence of even one partial juror on a defendant's panel offends the defendant's Fourteenth Amendment right to a fair and impartial jury and the sentence may not stand.

Before Morgan …