Heart of Dixie · Appeal to Washington
Only Two Verdicts on the Menu
Beck v. Alabama (1980)
Charge: Capital robbery-murder - killing of an 80-year-old man during a home robberyCourt: Supreme Court of the United States (on review of the Alabama state courts)Docket: Appeal to Washington
Can a death sentence stand when the jury was forbidden to consider a lesser verdict?
The facts
Two men went to the home of an 80-year-old man to rob him. The defendant testified that he grabbed the man intending to tie him up with a rope, and that his accomplice unexpectedly struck and killed him. He admitted the robbery but denied killing the victim or intending his death. Alabama law barred judges from instructing capital juries on lesser included offences such as felony murder, so jurors could only convict of the capital crime, which carried a mandatory death sentence, or acquit. He was convicted and sentenced to death.
You have the facts the court had. Guilty or not guilty? Call it in the game with your friends, then see what the court actually decided. Wrong call, you drink.
Citation: Beck v. Alabama, Beck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. 625 (1980)
Read more at supreme.justia.com. The source reveals the outcome.