State v. Goolsby

Gregory, Justice:

Appellant Sidney Ross Goolsby was found guilty of the murder of Ruby Ann Medlin in the first phase of a bifurcated capital trial and sentenced to death upon recommendation of the trial jury at the end of the second phase. The case on appeal consolidates a direct appeal of the conviction and mandatory review of the death sentence. We affirm the conviction, vacate the death penalty and remand to the trial court.

THE FACTS

On March 13, 1978, a motorist discovered the body later identified as Ruby Ann Medlin lying face down in the brush alongside U. S. Highway 93 in a desolate,…