Williams v. State

SHEPARD, Chief Justice.

A jury found appellant Robert D. Williams 1 guilty of murder and determined him to be a habitual offender. The court sentenced him to sixty-five years in prison, enhanced by thirty years for the habitual finding. Williams raises three issues in this direct appeal:

1. Whether a tape-recorded statement Williams gave to the police should have been excluded as involuntary and/or tainted by a previous, suppressed statement,

2. Whether an improper reference in the prosecutor’s opening statement to Williams’ “testimony,” rather than “statement,” was sufficiently prejudicial such…