Smith v. State

Henry Smith, Jr., was indicted for killing the proprietor of a liquor store in Memphis on September 2, 1960, while in the perpetration of a robbery with a pistol. The jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death by electrocution.

The contention here is that the evidence does not warrant death by electrocution and that the homicide was committed in self-defense. It is further the contention in support of the assignments that due to the unusual amount of publicity that this homicide had in the press, television and radio that the plaintiff in error had been unusually prejudiced thereby to…