State v. Brown

WHICHARD, Justice.

Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree and conspiracy to commit murder. The jury recommended the death sentence for the murder. The trial court sentenced accordingly, and imposed a sentence of ten years imprisonment for the conspiracy conviction. We find no .error in the guilt-innocence phase of the trial on either charge. Because we find prejudicial error in the sentencing phase on the murder charge, we remand for a new capital sentencing hearing.

Richard Lee Hopper, known as Ricky, was the State’s principal witness at trial. He was twenty-one years old at the…