Middleton v. State
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree felony murder with a weapon, burglary of an occupied dwelling while armed, and dealing in stolen property. The trial court sentenced Appellant to death. The Supreme Court affirmed Appellant’s conviction of first-degree murder and upheld his death sentence, holding (1) the trial court erred in finding the avoid arrest aggravator and the cold, calculated and premeditated aggravator, but the errors were harmless; (2) Appellant’s death sentence was proportional; (3) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Appellant’s motion to continue the penalty phase to set the order of penalty phase witnesses; (4) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the defense funds to appoint a mitigation specialist; (5) the trial court appropriately performed the individualized sentencing required for death penalty cases; (6) the trial court did not err in denying Appellant’s motion to suppress his videotaped confession; (7) the evidence was sufficient to support the convictions; and (8) the felony murder aggravator is constitutional.
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