Rushen, Director, California Department of Corrections, et al. v. Spain (464 U.S. 114)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided December 12, 1983 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 464 U.S. 114 · 104 S. Ct. 453
- Decided
- December 12, 1983
- Term
- October Term 1983
- Vote
- 6–3
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Per Curiam. Respondent was one of six inmates involved in a 1971 San Quentin Prison escape that resulted in the death of three prisoners and three corrections officers. The State of California jointly tried respondent and five other prisoners on numerous charges, including murder, conspiracy, and assault. The prosecution attempted to show that the Black Panther Party had organized the escape attempt and to link respondent to the conspiracy through his membership in that Party. Respondent’s defense was that state police had organized the breakout and ambushed the escapees to eliminate an important faction of the Black Panther Party. During voir dire, the court admonished prospective jurors to reveal their associations, if any, with crimes of violence and their attitudes toward radical groups, including the Black Panthers. Patricia Pagan, who became a juror, testified at voir dire that she had no personal knowledge of violent crimes — as a witness, victim, or otherwise — and that she did not associate the Black Panther Party with any form of violence. However, in the course of the 17-month-long trial, evidence was introduced of a crime, unrelated to those at issue in respondent’s trial, of which juror Pagan had some knowledge. A defense witness identified a Black Panther named Pratt as a police informant involved in the alleged police plot. The prosecution sought to impeach…
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