Smith v. State

223 So.2d 657 (1969)

Bill SMITH

v.

STATE of Mississippi.

No. 45408.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

June 9, 1969.

Rehearing Denied July 3, 1969.

Carl E. Berry, Jr., Hattiesburg, for appellant.

Joe T. Patterson, Atty. Gen., by G. Garland Lyell, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

JONES, Justice:

The appellant, William Thomas (Bill) Smith, was convicted in the Circuit Court of Forrest County of the murder of Vernon Dahmer and was sentenced to life imprisonment in the state penitentiary.

Dahmer, a Negro, lived with his wife and three children in a rural community near Hattiesburg. Dahmer's wife…