State v. Miller

OPINION

HARBISON, Justice.

This is a direct appeal from a conviction of murder in the first degree and sentence of death, based upon the aggravating circumstances that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or - cruel in that it involved torture or depravity of mind.

I

The victim, Lee Standifer, had diffused brain damage when born and was mildly retarded. She was twenty-three years old when she was murdered. She had been employed for about two years with a company that hired handicapped persons and was living at the Y.W.C.A. in downtown Knoxville, as a step toward her independence. She…