Arnold v. North Carolina, No. 572

CourtUnited States Supreme Court
Writing for the CourtPER CURIAM
Citation84 S.Ct. 1032,12 L.Ed.2d 77,376 U.S. 773
PartiesJesse James ARNOLD and George Dixon, Petitioners, v. NORTH CAROLINA
Docket NumberNo. 572
Decision Date06 April 1964

376 U.S. 773
84 S.Ct. 1032
12 L.Ed.2d 77
Jesse James ARNOLD and George Dixon, Petitioners,

v.

NORTH CAROLINA.

No. 572.
Argued March 26, 1964.
Decided April 6, 1964.

J. Harvey Turner and Fred W. Harrison, Kinston, N.C., for petitioners.

Ralph Moody, Raleigh, N.C., for respondent.

PER CURIAM.

The petitioners, Arnold and Dixon, were found guilty of m rder by a jury and their convictions were affirmed, the Supreme Court of North Carolina concluding that they had not made out a case of systematic exclusion of Negroes from the grand jury which returned the indictment. 258 N.C. 563, 129 S.E.2d 229. In support of their motion to quash the indictment because of consistent exclusion of Negroes from grand jury service, petitioners,

Page 774

both Negroes, offered testimony of the county tax supervisor showing that the tax records of the county, on which Negro and white persons are listed separately and from which the names of jurors are derived, revealed 12,250 white persons and 4,819 Negroes in the county, with 5,583 white men and 2,499 Negro men listed for poll tax. In addition, the clerk of the trial court testified that while there have been as many as four or five Negroes upon the regular jury panel from which grand jurors have been chosen, in his 24 years as clerk he could remember only one Negro serving on a ground jury, another having been selected but excused. This evidence was uncontradicted, the State cross-examining the witnesses but offering no evidence.

The judgment below must be reversed. The 'testimony in itself made out a prima facie case of the denial of the equal protection which the Constitution guarantees.' Norris v. Alabama, 294 U.S. 587, 591, 55 S.Ct. 579, 581, 79 L.Ed. 1074. The situation here is quite like that in Eubanks v. Louisiana, 356 U.S. 584, 586, 78 S.Ct. 970, 973, 2 L.Ed.2d 991, where systematic exclusion of Negroes from grand jury duty was found. In that case:

'Although Negroes comprise about one-third of the population of the parish, the uncontradicted testimony of various witnesses established that only one Negro had been picked for grand jury duty within memory. * * * From 1936, when the Commission first began to include Negroes in the pool of potential jurors, until 1954, when petitioner was indicted, 36 grand juries were selected in the parish. Six or more Negroes were included in each list submitted to the local judges. Yet out of the 432 jurors selected only the single Negro waschosen.'

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76 practice notes
  • Colvin v. State, s. 84
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Maryland
    • March 16, 1984
    ...on grand jury, and few if any Negroes had served on petit jury panels, up to the time of the defendant's trial); Arnold v. North Carolina, 376 U.S. 773, 84 S.Ct. 1032, 12 L.Ed.2d 77 (1964) (prima facie case of systematic exclusion of Negroes established by testimony of court clerk that in 2......
  • State ex rel. Henderson v. Russell
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Tennessee. Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
    • July 6, 1970
    ...States, ex rel. Goldsby vs. Harpole, supra; United States, ex rel. Seals vs. Winan, 304 F. (2d) 53 (1962); Arnold vs. North Carolina, 376 U.S. 773, 84 S.Ct. 1032, 12 L.Ed. (2d) 77 'While a full evidentiary hearing may not be warranted or proper for every petition for habeas corpus in this S......
  • Peters v. Kiff 8212 5078, No. 71
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • June 22, 1972
    ...in light of our disposition. 6. Alexander v. Louisiana, 405 U.S. 625, 92 S.Ct. 1221, 31 L.Ed.2d 536 (1972); Arnold v. North Carolina, 376 U.S. 773, 84 S.Ct. 153, 11 L.Ed.2d 110 (1964); Eubanks v. Louisiana, 356 U.S. 584, 78 S.Ct. 970, 2 L.Ed.2d 991 (1958); Reece v. Georgia, 350 U.S. 85, 76 ......
  • Francis v. Henderson 10, 1975, 74-5808
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • May 3, 1976
    ...404, 88 S.Ct. 523, 19 L.Ed.2d 634 (1967); Whitus v. Georgia, 385 U.S. 545, 87 S.Ct. 643, 17 L.Ed.2d 599 (1967); Arnold v. North Carolina, 376 U.S. 773, 84 S.Ct. 1032, 12 L.Ed.2d 77 (1964); Eubanks v. Louisiana, 356 U.S. 584, 78 S.Ct. 970, 2 L.Ed.2d 991 (1958); Smith v. Texas, 311 U.S. 128, ......
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75 cases
  • Ramseur v. Beyer, No. 90-5333
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit)
    • December 31, 1992
    ...85, 76 S.Ct. 167, 100 L.Ed. 77 (1955); Eubanks v. Louisiana, 356 U.S. 584, 78 S.Ct. 970, 2 L.Ed.2d 991 (1958); Arnold v. North Carolina, 376 U.S. 773, 84 S.Ct. 1032, 12 L.Ed.2d 77 (1964); Alexander v. Louisiana, 405 U.S. 625, 92 S.Ct. 1221; Castaneda v. Partida, 430 U.S. 482, 97 S.Ct. 1272,......
  • State v. Yoes, No. 659
    • United States
    • North Carolina United States State Supreme Court of North Carolina
    • November 1, 1967
    ...see: State v. Wilson, supra; State v. Arnold, 258 N.C. 563, 129 S.E.2d 229, reversed on another ground in Arnold v. North Carolina, 376 U.S. 773, 84 S.Ct. 1032, 12 L.E.2d 77; Miller v. State, [271 N.C. 632] 237 N.C. 29, 74 S.E.2d 513; State v. Brown, 233 N.C. 202, 63 S.E.2d 99. Consequently......
  • Aaron v. Capps, No. 74-2526
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)
    • February 3, 1975
    ...excluded on account of their race. Peters v. Kiff, 407 U.S. 493, 92 S.Ct. 2163, 33 L.Ed.2d 83 (1972); Arnold v. North Carolina, 376 U.S. 773, 84 S.Ct. 1032, 12 L.Ed.2d 77 (1964); Reece v. Georgia, 350 U.S. 85, 76 S.Ct. 167, 100 L.Ed. 77 (1955). It is also clear that whatever rights Aaron ha......
  • State v. Smith, Nos. 2678
    • United States
    • Superior Court of New Jersey
    • June 28, 1968
    ...primarily the procedure employed in selecting jurors that pointed to the conclusion of discrimination. See also Arnold v. North Carolina, 376 U.S. 773, 84 S.Ct. 1032, 12 L.Ed.2d (1964); Norris v. State of Alabama, 294 U.S. 587, 55 S.Ct. 579, 79 L.Ed. 1074 There are several other cases in wh......
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