STATE OF TENNESSEE v. LATOSHA STARKS-TWILLEY - Articles

All Content

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. LATOSHA STARKS-TWILLEY

Posted by: Karen Belcher on May 8, 2023

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Janet H. Goode (on appeal) and Blake D. Ballin (at trial), Memphis, Tennessee, for the Defendant-Appellant, Latosha Starks-Twilley.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Brent C. Cherry, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Steven J. Mulroy, District Attorney General; and Greg Gilbert and Nicole Germain, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): MCMULLEN

A Shelby County Criminal Court jury convicted the Defendant, Latosha Starks-Twilley, of first degree premeditated murder, and the trial court imposed a sentence of life imprisonment. On appeal, the Defendant argues: (1) the trial court erred in allowing the State to ask the defense expert prejudicial questions; (2) the trial court erred in allowing the State to ask the defense expert whether the Defendant met the criteria for antisocial personality disorder; (3) the trial court erred in prohibiting the defense from asking its own expert about whether the Defendant lacked the capacity to form the mens rea required for the offense; (4) the trial court erred in denying the Defendant’s request for the pattern jury instruction on reckless homicide; (5) the trial court erred in admitting certain photographs of the deceased victim into evidence; and (6) the evidence is insufficient to sustain her conviction. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Attachments: