State v. Patton

COOPER, Justice.

OPINION

Petitioner, Sam Walter Patton, was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to serve thirty years in the state penitentiary for the pistol slaying of his wife, Shirley Patton. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction. This court granted certiorari to determine (1) whether the state had carried its burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that petitioner, was sane at the time he killed his wife, and (2) whether prejudicial error was committed by the trial judge in permitting the state to cross-examine the petitioner as to “prior bad acts or…