Sheffield v. State

The defendant was indicted for the first degree murder of Robert C. Tate in a killing connected with an independent trucker's strike. A jury convicted the defendant of second degree murder and fixed sentence at thirty years' imprisonment.

I

Although the evidence is wholly circumstantial, it is sufficient to support the jury's finding that the defendant was guilty beyond any reasonable doubt.

The homicide occurred during the early morning of June 20, 1979, on Highway 72 near Tuscumbia. Shortly after midnight, a small number of men gathered outside the defendant's trailer. They were "carrying on"…