Thomas v. State

Leroy Thomas was convicted for the murder of Julie Mae Sheppard and sentenced to life imprisonment. Six issues are raised on this appeal from that conviction.

I

The State proved, through eyewitness testimony, that the defendant shot the victim in the neck with a .22-caliber rifle. This testimony was undisputed because the defendant presented no evidence.

The State failed to establish a proper chain of custody of the victim's body and the bullet lodged in her neck. There was absolutely no showing of how the victim's body was transported from the Clay County Hospital, where the coroner pronounced…