State v. Smith

OPINION

STOWERS, Justice.

Defendant Bernie Smith was convicted of first degree murder for the death of Ralph Pierro. He appealed his conviction, challenging the exclusion at trial of exculpatory testimony regarding an out-of-court statement made by his codefendant and the exclusion of evidence of threats made against the witness offering that testimony. While the appeal was pending, this Court remanded to the trial court to hear defendant’s motion for a new trial on the basis of newly discovered evidence, an affidavit of the codefendant confessing her role in Ralph Pierro’s death and…