Lias v. State

This is an appeal from a conviction of murder after a jury trial in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Mississippi. Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The sole issue is whether the jury was justified in finding the defendant understood the nature and quality of the act he was doing and was able to distinguish between right and wrong at the time of the murders. The facts with regard to the occurrence of the murders are uncontradicted.

Sometime between the evening of February 17, 1974 and the early morning hours of February 18, 1974, Frankie Lee Lias shot and killed his wife,…