Sizemore v. State

Gregory, Justice.

The defendant was convicted of the murder of his wife, Linda Sizemore, and sentenced to life imprisonment.

At trial the defendant testified that shortly before the shooting he had unloaded his deer rifle in anticipation of working on it. The defendant expressed his belief that the gun was empty. He testified that his wife walked past him and asked him to turn on the stove. As he stood up to do so, placing the rifle flat against the dining room table, the rifle discharged, shooting his wife in the back.

A ballistics expert testified on behalf of the State that if the defendant’s…