State v. Sitts

The state’s attorney of Lawrence county filed an information in the circuit court charging George Sitts with the murder of Tom Matthews, a state police officer. Defendant pleaded hot guilty. The jury found the defendant guilty as charged in the information and recommended that he be sentenced to death and the court imposed the sentence recommended by the jury. Motions to set aside the verdict and to declare a mistrial and application for a new trial were denied, and defendant has appealed.

In the process of selecting a jury the regular panel was exhausted and several venires were issued. Some…