STATE OF TENNESSEE v. KENNETH SPENCER - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. KENNETH SPENCER

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Apr 11, 2014

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1:

Stephen C. Bush, Public Defender and Tony N. Brayton, Assistant Public Defender, (on appeal); Cliff Abeles and William Robilio, Assistant Public Defenders, (at trial), for the appellant, Henry Bates.

Attorneys 2:

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Rachel E. Willis, Assistant Attorney General; Amy P. Weirich, District Attorney General; and Colin Campbell, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): SMITH

A Shelby County jury convicted Appellant, Kenneth Spencer, of first degree premeditated murder. The trial court sentenced Appellant to life imprisonment. Appellant appeals his conviction arguing that the evidence was insufficient to prove premeditation and that the trial court erroneously allowed the introduction of weapons and ammunition. On appeal, the State concedes that the trial court erred, however, the error was harmless. After a review of the record on appeal, we conclude that there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that premeditation existed and that the introduction of the evidence in question was error, but it was harmless error. Therefore, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

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