State v. Sloan

Ness, Justice:

Appellant Michael A. Godwin Sloan was convicted of murder and first degree criminal sexual assault and sentenced to death. We conclude the numerous errors committed cumulatively denied appellant a fair trial. We reverse the conviction, vacate the sentence and remand for a new trial. Appellant argues several improprieties in the solicitor’s guilt phase argument. First, he contends the solicitor’s comment that appellant’s attorneys had not overtly asserted his innocence injected a constitutionally in tolerable element of unreliability into the fact-finding process.

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