State v. Patterson

Brailsford, Justice:

Leon Patterson appeals from his conviction of murder. The threshold question is whether the court erred in admitting in evidence the defendant’s confession, without which the evidence was insufficient to sustain the verdict.

On February 14, 1973, at about 7:00 P. M., the operator of a filling station on St. Phillips Street in Charleston was shot to death during an attempted robbery. A witness who was parked nearby saw three men enter the filling station, heard a pistol shot, and saw the attendant fall. The three men emerged from the station and ran away. The witness called…