Smith v. State
Annotate this CaseDefendant was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and death sentence, holding (1) the trial court did not err in denying Defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal because there was competent, substantial evidence to support Defendant’s conviction; (2) the trial court did not err in denying a motion for mistrial after a witness marginally referenced another investigation that was occurring in a different jurisdiction; (3) the trial court did not err in permitting an inmate to testify as to the threat that Defendant made to a witness through the inmate; (4) the trial court did not err in denying Defendant’s motion for a continuance; (5) the trial court did not err in finding that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel; (6) the trial court did not err in rejecting two proposed statutory mitigators; and (7) the sentence of death was proportional in this case.
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