Evans v. Abney Brief for Petitioners
Public Court Documents
January 1, 1968

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Press Releases, Volume 7. Texas Death Conviction Overturned by Court of Appeals, 1979. 8559c69a-bb92-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/fd06629e-20b3-4ec5-89ab-4cd03ec30e57/texas-death-conviction-overturned-by-court-of-appeals. Accessed July 01, 2025.
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w) Prstee 4 ae Ge Q, 1477 TEXAS DEATH eolfeercg OVERTURNED BY COURT OF APPEALS ene Re New York, N. Y., April 12 -- The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans ruled yesterday that the right to a fair trial in the case of James Paul Burns, a Texas prisoner under amy sentence of death, had been violated by the exclusion of several Prospective jurors who had refused to take an Oath that the Prospect of the death Penalty would not "affect" their deliberations in the case.#\ The NAACP Legal Defense Gan aS SGGes Crone tend iae, (not a part of the National Ass |cation — for the peevancement of Colored RQgp1e) filed a brief as a frigi- Cawmett 4 (Kyl dfras FoL_) of-the-court urging/of Mr. Burns death sentenc 3 sta eo attorney Joel Berger Participated in oral argument in behalf of Mr. Burj - LDF contfigtiea that the oath (contained in the Texas Penal Code) appeared to violate a 1969 Supreme Court decision, Witherspoon v. Illinois, which outlawed the selection of only those jurors who approve capital punihsment, denying defendants trial by a cross-section of the community, The unanimous decision of the Gepeke court means that = Prosecutors in fas can no Longer sttempe-to- TERRE preveny— ee keep persons off juries who may have scruples against ee) eee —— —— — The decision could also affect the fate of sefvera— eo death penalty other prisoners on death row in Texas. Texas' death row, with fmm 105 prisoners, is currently the second largest in the nation. Forty-one of those prisoners are black and 14 are Hispanic. & : : For futherg inf tion: Joel Berger fa 2 )586-8397 NOTE TO EDITORS: The NAACP LEGAL DEFESNE FUND is not part of the National Association for the ff avancement of Colored Pepe though it was founded by that organization in 1940 garh— Ab aise A Conn A ee pie. It has always been separate and distinct and for the past 20 years has had its own Borad, program, staff, policies, office and budget. —o— MAT COMBE WIRE CPST car wy 7r TEXAS fPHS0.