State v. Turnage

MARTIN, Justice.

On 17 November 1988, Carolyn Bell Turnage died of a gunshot wound to the head. Her estranged husband, Jerry Wayne Turnage, was convicted of second-degree murder for her death. A divided panel of the Court of Appeals held that the State’s evidence did not contradict defendant’s extrajudicial exculpatory statements that the shooting was accidental and therefore reversed defendant’s conviction. Judge Greene dissented, concluding that there was circumstantial evidence from which reasonable minds might conclude that defendant intended to kill his wife. State v. Turnage, 100 N.C.…