Nature of the Case
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Facts
The Federal Kidnaping Act, 18 U. S. C. § 1201 (a), provides: 'Whoever knowingly transports in interstate . . . commerce, any person who has been unlawfully . . . kidnaped . . . and held for ransom . . . or otherwise . . . shall be punished (1) by death if the kidnaped person has not been liberated unharmed, and if the verdict of the jury shall so recommend, or (2) by imprisonment for any term of years or for life, if the death penalty is not imposed.' The statute sets forth no procedure for imposing the death penalty upon a defendant who waives the right to a jury trial or upon one who pleads guilty. A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging that Ds had transported from Connecticut to New Jersey a person who had been kidnaped and held for ransom, and who had been harmed when liberated. The District Court dismissed the kidnaping count of an indictment charging Ds because it makes 'the risk of death' the price for asserting the right to trial by jury and thus 'impairs . . . free exercise' of that constitutional right. P appealed.
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