Jackson v. State

Patricia Anne Thomas Jackson was indicted and tried for the capital murder of Bonnie Walker, whom she stabbed once through the heart. Ms. Jackson, the appellant herein, was indicted, pursuant to § 13A-5-31 (a)(13), Code of Alabama 1975, for "murder committed by a defendant who has been convicted of murder in the first or second degree in the 20 years preceding the crime." The trial was conducted in compliance with the standards and procedures outlined in Beck v. State, 396 So.2d 645 (Ala. 1980). The jury returned a verdict of "guilty as charged in the indictment," and, after a separate…