State v. Hunt

MEYER, Justice.

On 10 December 1984, defendant was indicted for first-degree murder in the death of Deborah Brotherton Sykes. At defendant’s first trial, the jury returned a verdict of guilty of first-degree felony murder, and defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment. On appeal, this Court found error in the guilt phase of defendant’s trial, reversed the conviction, and ordered a new trial. State v. Hunt, 324 N.C. 343, 378 S.E.2d 754 (1989) (hereinafter Hunt I). On 27 July 1990, the trial judge entered an order changing the venue of the retrial to Catawba County because of extensive media…