State v. Upchurch

LAKE, Justice.

Defendant was indicted for the murder of Leith Peter Von Stein and was tried capitally at the 2 January 1990 Special Criminal Session of Superior Court, Pasquotank County. The jury found defendant guilty of first-degree murder on the theory of premeditation and deliberation. Following a sentencing proceeding, the jury recommended a sentence of death for the murder conviction, and on 30 January 1990, the trial court sentenced defendant to death in accordance with the jury’s recommendation. Defendant also was sentenced to life imprisonment for first-degree burglary, twenty years…