Taylor v. State

DICKSON, Justice.

In a bench trial, defendant Maurice Taylor was convicted of murder and sentenced to thirty years imprisonment. Defendant raises two issues for our review: 1) sufficiency of evidence; and 2) the trial judge’s questioning of a witness.

Sufficiency of Evidence

Defendant contends that the evidence supports only a conviction of voluntary manslaughter rather than murder because of his claim of “unrefuted” evidence that the victim was reaching under his parka for a gun when the defendant shot him. Fear that the victim was armed, defendant asserts, amounts to “sudden heat.” Defendant…