State v. Morrow

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of nine counts, including one count of first-degree premeditated murder and two counts of attempted first-degree premeditated murder, stemming from an incident in which Defendant fired a semiautomatic rifle at Joseph Rivera and two of Rivera's friends. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court did not err when it (1) denied Defendant's pretrial motion to dismiss the indictment, as any alleged misconduct by the State did not substantially influence the grand jury's decision to indict; (2) admitted Defendant's taped statement to police, as the statement was voluntary made; (3) admitted a photograph of Rivera as a child, as the photograph was admissible as spark of life evidence; (4) denied Defendant's motion for a mistrial based on a law enforcement officer's testimony that Defendant was truant and once swore at a teacher in high school; and (5) denied Defendant's request for surrebuttal closing argument, because even if the district court erred in denying the request, the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. View "State v. Morrow" on Justia Law