Richard L. Carmical v. Walter E. Craven

Appellants, Richard L. Carmical, Memmon Lawrence, Jr. and Wayne Earley, appeal from a judgment of the district court denying, in a consolidated action, their respective petitions for habeas corpus. We affirm.

Each of the appellants was sentenced to confinement following criminal convictions in the Superior Court of Alameda County, California, sometime between 1956 and 1968. During that period, the names of prospective jurors were obtained by random selection from the rolls of registered voters, the number selected from each precinct being proportional to the number of registered voters in such precinct. The individuals whose names were drawn were then summoned to appear in the office of the Jury Commissioner where they were required to read and fill out a form affidavit. Some individuals were then excused after properly claiming exception or because of inability to read and complete the affidavit.

The prospective jurors that survived this process were given a “clear thinking” test, which had been created under the auspices of a special committee of judges and lawyers in furtherance of the goal of empaneling jurors that met acceptable standards of innate intelligence,…