State of Utah, Plaintiff and Respondent v. Arthur Gary Bishop, Defendant and Appellant

Summary

The opinion rejects challenges to the jury-selection process, including restrictions on voir dire, refusal to excuse several jurors for cause, use of voter-registration lists, death qualification, peremptory challenges, and denial of a venue change. It holds that the defendant's confession was voluntary and that, although he was in custody before receiving Miranda warnings, any error in admitting unwarned statements was harmless and his later waiver after invoking counsel was valid. The opinion also upholds Utah's death-penalty scheme and concludes that the manslaughter instructions correctly required an externally caused disturbance and an objective standard. Justices Zimmerman, Durham, and Stewart concurred in the result but disputed portions of the manslaughter analysis, evidentiary rulings, unanimity analysis, or statutory treatment of other-crimes evidence.