| Caldwell v. Mississippi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued February 25, 1985 Decided June 11, 1985 | |
| Full case name | Bobby Caldwell v. Mississippi |
| Citations | 472 U.S. 320 ( more ) |
| Argument | Oral argument |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Caldwell v. State, 443 So. 2d 806 (Miss. 1983), certiorari granted, 469 U.S. 879 (1984) |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Marshall (except as to Part IV-A), joined by Brennan, Blackmun, Stevens, O'Connor |
| Plurality | Marshall (Part IV-A), joined by Brennan, Blackmun, Stevens |
| Concurrence | O'Connor (in part and in judgment) |
| Dissent | Rehnquist, joined by Burger, White |
| Powell took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320 (1985), was a United States Supreme Court case concerning criminal procedure in capital jury trials. The Court vacated the death sentence of the petitioner, Bobby Caldwell, on the basis that the prosecutor had improperly biased the jury during trial by telling them that they would not ultimately be responsible for deciding whether Caldwell would die. The opinion of the Court was authored by Justice Thurgood Marshall, and was joined in full by Justices William J. Brennan, Jr., Harry Blackmun, and John Paul Stevens. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, whose vote was necessary for Marshall's opinion to have support from a majority of justices, joined all of his opinion except for Part IV-A. [1]
