Felton M. Hilliard v. State of Arizona

This is an appeal from the denial by the United States District Court for the District of Arizona of Felton M. Hil-liard’s Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus. Appellant was convicted of rape and burglary by a jury in an Arizona trial court in 1959. When the case came on for trial, one of the prospective jurors stated, on voir dire: “Your Honor, I don’t know if I am acquainted with him [the defendant] or not, but he is the one that attacked my daughter several years ago, so * * The trial judge promptly declared a mistrial, dismissed the jury panel, and, on the following day, excused all the new prospective jurors who indicated they had heard of the events of the preceding day. After a defense motion for a continuance until a new jury venire could be called was denied, a jury chosen from the remaining prospective jurors was impaneled.

At the commencement of the trial, and again at the end of that day’s proeeed-ings, the Judge instructed the jury regarding their duties as jurors, admonishing them to avoid out of court communications relating to the case, including newspaper articles. That evening and again on the morning of the next day, there appeared in the local newspapers…