Chambers v. Mississippi
- Decided
- February 21, 1973
- Docket
- 71-5908
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 5,756 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- holding that a combination of erroneous evidentiary rulings rose to the level of a due process violation — Fry v. Pliler (2007)
- holding that Mississippi’s application of its rules of evidence denied a petitioner a fair trial — Bullock v. Carver (2002)
- holding that exclusion of evidence that another person confessed to three other individuals that he committed murder violated due process — Glennon Paul Sweet v. Paul Delo, Superintendent, Potosi Correctional Center (1997)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
Mr. Justice Powell delivered the opinion of the Court.
Petitioner, Leon Chambers, was tried by a jury in a Mississippi trial court and convicted of murdering a policeman. The jury assessed punishment at life imprisonment, and the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed, one justice dissenting. 252 So. 2d 217 (1971). Pending disposition of his application for certiorari to this Court, petitioner was granted bail by order of the Circuit Justice, dated February 1, 1972. Two weeks later, on the State’s request for reconsideration, that order was reaffirmed. 405 U. S. 1205 (1972). Subsequently, the petition for certiorari was granted, 405 U. S. 987 (1972), to consider whether petitioner’s trial was conducted in accord with principles of due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. We conclude that it was not.
I
Cite this
Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284 (1973)Read the full opinion
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