Cannon v. State

After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of first-degree murder on theories of both premeditation and felony murder and related crimes. The trial court sentenced Defendant to death, finding that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the trial court did not err in assigning weight to the felony probation aggravator; (2) the trial court did not err in applying the heinous, atrocious, or cruel aggravator to Defendant; (3) the trial court did not err in instructing the jury on attempted voluntary manslaughter; (4) the evidence was sufficient to support Defendant’s convictions for robbery, attempted robbery, and arson; (5) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in responding to a jury question during deliberations; (6) even if the court erred in admitting hearsay statements into evidence, there was no reasonable possibility that the admission of these statements contributed to the conviction; and (7) Defendant’s death sentence was a proportionate sentence. View "Cannon v. State" on Justia Law