State v. Smith

RENDLEN, Judge.

Defendant was convicted of first degree murder for the stabbing death of fellow inmate Marlin May at the Missouri State Penitentiary on January 15, 1987. Because the jury fixed his punishment at death, defendant’s appeal falls within the exclusive original appellate jurisdiction of this Court. Mo. Const, art. V, § 3. We affirm.

The events of that fateful day began with a knife attack by certain inmates upon another inmate, Demetrius Herndon. The incidents began on Five and Six Walks of housing unit 5, and concluded after a chase to corridor T-3, three stories below. Defendant…