[Download] "Smith v. Kelso" by Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals " eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Smith v. Kelso
- Author : Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
- Release Date : January 25, 1989
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 61 KB
Description
WISDOM, Senior Circuit Judge: The primary question this habeas case presents is whether the petitioner's trial in the state court was fundamentally unfair because the conflict between the petitioner and his co-defendants was so substantial that the trial court should have granted the motion for a severance. On September 20, 1983, Jim Henderson was murdered by two rifle shots to the head as he lay in the back seat of Donnie Smith's automobile. Henderson's ex-wife Holly Johnson, her husband Bill Johnson, and Smith, Henderson's nephew, were jointly tried in a state court in Georgia for murder and for other criminal offenses. Bill Johnson was convicted of malice murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping, and concealing the death of another; Holly Johnson was convicted of felony murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping, and concealing the death of another; Donnie Smith was convicted of felony murder, assault, false imprisonment, felony murder, and concealing the death of another; he received a sentence of life plus twelve months.1 Of the defendants, Smith alone now appears before this Court. He appeals the denial of his application for a writ of habeas corpus. We affirm.