In Beecher v. Alabama (1967), the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a murder conviction on the grounds that it was based on evidence obtained through an unconstitutional search and seizure. The case involved Robert Louis Beecher, who had been convicted of murdering his wife in Alabama state court. During their investigation, police officers searched Beecher's home without a warrant and found bloody clothing which they used as evidence to convict him at trial. On appeal, the Supreme Court ruled that this constituted an illegal search under the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution because there were no exigent circumstances justifying a warrantless search in this instance - such as immediate danger or risk of evidence being destroyed - nor did Mr.Beecher give consent for his property to be searched.

In the dissenting opinion for Beecher v. Alabama, it was argued that the majority's decision to uphold Beecher's conviction and death sentence violated his constitutional rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. The dissent pointed out that during his trial, Beecher had been denied access to a key piece of evidence - a confession he made while in police custody without legal counsel present. This confession was used against him at trial despite its questionable legality. Additionally, there were concerns about racial bias influencing jury selection as all African American potential jurors were systematically excluded from serving on the jury panel by prosecutors using peremptory challenges based solely on race. The dissent also criticized how Alabama law allowed juries to recommend mercy but did not require judges to follow these recommendations when sentencing defendants convicted of capital crimes; this discretion led them believe it could lead to arbitrary or discriminatory sentences being imposed which would violate due process protections guaranteed by Constitution.