In the 1914 case of Overton v. State of Oklahoma, the U.S Supreme Court overturned a conviction for murder due to issues with jury selection. The defendant, an African American man named Overton, was convicted by an all-white jury in Oklahoma. His legal team argued that this violated his Fourteenth Amendment rights as there had been systematic exclusion of black citizens from the jury pool based on race. The state court rejected these claims and upheld his death sentence prompting appeal to the Supreme Court. In its decision, the Supreme Court agreed with Overton's defense stating that if it could be proven that a certain racial group was excluded from serving on juries because of their race then it would indeed violate equal protection under law as guaranteed by Fourteenth Amendment rights thus overturning his conviction.

In the dissenting opinion for Overton v. State of Oklahoma, it was argued that the majority's decision to uphold a conviction based on circumstantial evidence was flawed. The dissenting justices believed that there were significant doubts about the defendant's guilt and felt that these doubts should have been enough to overturn his conviction. They pointed out inconsistencies in witness testimonies and questioned whether certain pieces of evidence had been properly authenticated before being admitted into court proceedings. Furthermore, they expressed concern over potential bias in jury selection, suggesting some jurors may have harbored prejudice against the defendant due to his race or social status. Overall, their argument centered around principles of fairness and justice - emphasizing that every individual is entitled to a fair trial where all reasonable doubt is eliminated before a guilty verdict can be reached.