1,257 results for 'cat:"Murder"'.
J. Stacy finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and improper disposal of human remains. An online dating profile led investigators to defendant after the victim was reported missing. Cell phone activity, including text messages and location pings clearly linked defendant, her accomplice, and the victim. Other evidence, including surveillance-video-documented purchases of items used in the dismemberment and disposal of the victim's body also supports the convictions. Statements made by the accomplice involving getting sexual gratification from torture and killing were properly admitted as related to the furtherance of the conspiracy. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Stacy , Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: S-21-980, Categories: Evidence, murder, Mayhem
Per curiam, the appeals court finds the trial court erred by summarily denying defendant's postconviction motion alleging ineffective assistance of counsel at his trial on second-degree murder and other charges, which resulted in him being sentenced to at least 30 years' imprisonment. There is enough evidence in the record such that three of defendant's four claims of ineffective assistance should not have been summarily denied, including those alleging his lawyer did not claim stand-your-ground immunity or conduct an independent investigation of the facts before trial. The matter is remanded so defendant can file an amended motion and the trial court can make a more complete record. Reversed in part.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 23-1877, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, murder
J. Landau finds that the trial court properly admitted extraneous offense evidence during the guilt phase of defendant's murder trial. Evidence that defendant assaulted the murder victim's teenage son a few months before the murder had significant probative value that was not outweighed by the risk of unfair prejudice to defendant. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Landau, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 01-23-00173-CR, Categories: Evidence, murder, Sentencing
[Consolidated.] Per curiam, the court of appeals reverses, in part, certain convictions in a case against four defendants on charges arising from a gang-related shooting that led to two deaths and injuries to two additional victims. Certain convictions predicated on underlying conspiracy convictions must be vacated, as they underlying convictions are misdemeanors. Furthermore, one defendant's second-degree murder conviction must be vacated due to insufficient evidence. Reversed in part.
Court: DC Court of Appeals, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 14-CF-0667, Categories: murder, Conspiracy, Gangs
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J. Webb finds the circuit court properly dismissed the inmate's petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The inmate alleges the trial court lacked jurisdiction because no record evidence shows he pleaded guilty to a charge of illegal firearm possession. The inmate was found guilty for first-degree murder and the sentencing order recited he pleaded guilty to the firearm charge, the shorter sentence for which is being served concurrently with that for the murder conviction. The petition is time-barred. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Webb, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: CV-23-721, Categories: Firearms, Habeas, murder
J. Luthy finds that the trial court properly refused to suppress incriminating statements defendant made to police during an interrogation about a murder. Police gave him a Miranda warning at the outset and were not required to give another warning after a five-hour break, and the physical evidence was so overwhelming that suppression would not have changed the guilty verdict. Also, no evidence showed that defendant's son faced imminent harm that would justify self defense, or that defendant's delusions of risk related to any imminent danger. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Luthy, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 20210849-CA, Categories: Miranda, murder, Self Defense
J. Hudson finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for capital murder, aggravated residential burglary, robbery and theft. Defendant was arrested after DNA evidence showed he was involved in an apartment break-in and murder. The court properly denied defendant's motion to exclude officer testimony involving fresh blood drops she saw that dried before being taken as evidence. Defendant thoroughly impeached the witness, and the jury was free to determine the weight held by the officer's testimony. The testimony was properly admitted, as the officer's opinion was based on her experience as a crime-scene specialist. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Hudson , Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: CR-23-710, Categories: Burglary, Evidence, murder
J. Webb finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for murder, rape and abuse of a corpse. The suffocated victim was found wrapped in a bedspread on the side of the road with injuries indicating the victim had been beaten and sexually assaulted. An investigation revealed the victim had been in a relationship with defendant, leading to a warrant to search the home where signs of a struggle and blood spatter were found, along with pillow shams matching the bedspread in which the victim was wrapped. Defendant's DNA found on a cigarette butt near the victim's body, as well as the victim's DNA found in the trunk of defendant's vehicle support the conviction. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Webb , Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: CR-23-745, Categories: Evidence, murder, Sex Offender
J. Moore affirms the defendant's second-degree murder conviction, finding that while the district court abused its discretion in admitting evidence that a witness received threatening phone calls from an unknown caller, the defendant has not demonstrated that there was a reasonable possibility that this evidence significantly impacted the verdict. Affirmed.
Court: Minnesota Supreme Court, Judge: Moore, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: A22-0316, Categories: Evidence, murder, Witnesses
J. Hixson finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for the first-degree murder of his 3-year-old son. Defendant's girlfriend testified defendant punished the child by whipping him on his back with a belt and wooden spoon for peeing on himself and cussing, also saying this instance was more violent than previous punishments. After leaving the room, the girlfriend returned when things got quiet to see the child lying motionless on the floor. The child died later that day after receiving medical attention. Sufficient evidence, including forensic/medical photographs, the belt, an extension cord and the broken wooden spoon demonstrate defendant knew his conduct of repeated blunt-force trauma to the child's head and torso was deadly. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hixson , Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: CR-23-196, Categories: Evidence, murder, Child Victims
J. Perry dismisses the state's appeal of the trial court's decision to grant defendant's application for post-conviction relief related to his conviction of murder in 1995. The state asked for an extension and had until Apr. 10, 2024 to file a response, but the state did not do so until Apr. 18, 2024. A ruling on a post-conviction relief application is not appealable, but the state may still file an application for supervisory writs within 30 days of this decision.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Perry, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: KA-24-44, Categories: Criminal Procedure, murder
J. Thissen reverses the Court of Appeals' reversal of the defendant's second-degree murder conviction, which was premised on a finding that potential exposure to Covid-19 did not make a witness unavailable for Confrontation Clause purposes and that allowing that witness's prior testimony to be read aloud for the jury without cross-examination was erroneous. While the Court of Appeals was correct as to that issue, the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Reversed.
Court: Minnesota Supreme Court, Judge: Thissen, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: A21-1101, Categories: Confrontation, murder, Witnesses
Per curiam, the appeals court finds the trial court made no error in denying defendant's motion for a pretrial bond in the case in which he and another person are charged with the premeditated murder of a law enforcement officer. Even though defendant's co-defendant was granted pretrial bond, the evidence in the case, including testimony from a detective saying the co-defendant was not the shooter, supports the trial court's findings.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 24-0350, Categories: murder, Bail
C.J. Hudson partially affirms the defendant's convictions stemming from a 1993 cold-case murder. The district court did not err in finding that the defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in DNA found on a discarded napkin at a hockey game and that analysis of the DNA was therefore not a search. Any error in precluding the defendant from presenting evidence of an alternative perpetrator at trial was harmless, and the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding expert testimony as late discovery. Prosecutors' statements in closing arguments did not constitute error, circumstantial evidence was sufficient to support the jury's verdict that the defendant was guilty of first-degree murder, and the defendant did not receive ineffective assistance of counsel. It was, however, error to convict the defendant of both first-degree felony murder and second-degree intentional murder, a lesser-included offense. Affirmed in part.
Court: Minnesota Supreme Court, Judge: Hudson, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: A22-1679, Categories: Dna, Evidence, murder
J. Ortega finds the Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision properly declined to “sum and/or unsum” defendant's consecutive prison terms for aggravated murder and first-degree robbery when calculating his projected parole release date. One of defendant's two prison terms is for aggravated murder, so the board lacks authority to “sum” his consecutive prison terms.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Ortega, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: A177386, Categories: murder, Parole, Sentencing
J. Hoyle finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for murder. Testimony from neighbors shows defendant and his girlfriend were experiencing tension in the relationship after their daughter was born, and that this was exacerbated by defendant's recent wreck in his truck and a winter storm. A female witness with whom defendant had flirted in the past testified the girlfriend retrieved a gun when defendant taunted her with the flirtation. Defendant shot and killed the girlfriend when attempting to take the gun from her. His version of how the shooting occurred was inconsistent with the blood spatter evidence and other forensic evidence, such as the fact that the bullet did not exit the girlfriend's skull. A rational factfinder reasonably could infer that defendant intentionally or knowingly shot the victim. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Hoyle , Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 12-23-00208-CR, Categories: Evidence, Firearms, murder
J. Anderson finds that while the district court did not err in concluding that the defendant had abandoned a privacy interest in genetic information extracted from semen he left at a crime scene and garbage he left in a bin, it abused its discretion in excluding evidence he proffered on the grounds that it did not have an "inherent tendency" to connect an alternative perpetrator to the murder at issue. The evidence proffered was admissible, the district court held the proffer to an unobtainable legal standard, and the error was not harmless. Reversed.
Court: Minnesota Supreme Court, Judge: Anderson, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: A22-1823, Categories: Evidence, murder
J. Wood finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for murder, committing a terroristic act and tampering with evidence based on sufficient evidence. The 13-year-old witness testified a "splat-ball" game was happening in the neighborhood when he saw defendant fire a gun at a carload of teenagers. The witness ran when he heard a loud bang, returning later the find the 8-year-old victim dead from a gunshot wound to the head. The court's application of a firearm enhancement to the murder and terroristic-act convictions does not constitute a double-jeopardy violation. No error is found in the court's not accepting defendant's proffered jury instructions for second-degree murder and manslaughter. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wood , Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: CR-23-525, Categories: murder, Child Victims, Terrorism
J. Hellman finds the trial court incorrectly instructed itself on the elements of third-degree robbery when determining whether defendant’s actions against the two people that he shot were justified by self-defense. “When the trial court incorporated those elements...it incorrectly instructed itself on the elements of third-degree robbery as related to self-defense.” Reversed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Hellman, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: A175927, Categories: murder, Theft
Per curiam, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts determines that, where the defendant is a juvenile with executive functioning issues and learning disabilities that make it difficult if not impossible for him to understand court procedure without specialized instruction, “the ability to propose, finance, order, and compel remediation programming falls beyond the purview of the court.” Discharged and remanded.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: SJC-13466, Categories: Competence, Juvenile Law, murder