State v. Sturdivant

OPINION

HARBISON, Justice.

Petitioner was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to serve from four to ten years in the state penitentiary. His conviction was affirmed by the Court of Criminal Appeals. This Court granted his petition for certiorari to give further consideration to the issues, particularly to petitioner’s plea of self-defense.

Petitioner shot and killed Ricky Sutherland after an argument which occurred while they were drinking beer at a tavern near Paris, Tennessee. Petitioner and his brother-in-law, Talley Stubblefield, went to the tavern together. A controversy…