State v. Gore

Harwell, Justice:

Appellant John Robert Gore was convicted by a Spartan-burg County jury of voluntary manslaughter and arson and sentenced to terms of thirty years and ten years, consecutive. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

The appellant resided in a trailer with his girlfriend, Mrs. Deborah Coffey. On July 2,1982, the trailer was destroyed by fire. The appellant escaped with scratches and blood on his chest, burns on his back, ánd a broken wrist. Mrs. Coffey did not survive the fire. The front of her body was burned and there was an unexplained pool of blood nearby. The State’s trial…