Smallwood v. State

DICKSON, Justice.

The defendant, Howard Smallwood, appeals his conviction for murder and his sentence of life without parole arising out of the death of Lamarr Ferguson in South Bend in March 2000.

Facing charges for murder; conspiracy to commit murder, a class A felony; felony murder; and burglary, a class A felony, along with the State’s request for a sentence of life without parole, Smallwood entered into a plea agreement on the day before his jury trial was scheduled to begin. In the agreement, he stated that he was 38 years of age, had completed schooling through eleventh grade, and “can…