Hooks v. State

lUn 2010, John Davis collapsed during a physical altercation with Pamela Hooks and died later that same day. In 2012, Hooks was charged with first-degree murder in the death. At trial, a primary issue was Davis’s ill health, which included a preexisting heart condition involving severe blockage of a main artery.

The forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Davis testified that he had sustained sixty-eight separate injuries— cuts, scratches, and multiple superficial stab wounds, some of which were consistent with defensive injuries. Scissors that were recovered from the scene of the…