Texas Death Conviction Overturned by Court of Appeals

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James Paul Burns - Exclusion of Jurors and Right to a Fair Trial

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- Press Releases
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- LDF
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- 8559c69a-bb92-ee11-be37-00224827e97b

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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 November 23, 2025.

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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.

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Texas Death Conviction Overturned by Court of Appeals

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