Hicks v. State

BOEHM, Justice.

In this direct appeal from convictions for murder and feticide Robert Lawrence Hicks contends that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of Hicks’ violent relationship with the victim. Two other evidentiary rulings are also challenged. We affirm the convictions but remand for new sentencing pursuant to Smith v. State, 675 N.E.2d 693 (Ind.1996) because the trial court used the incorrect sentencing statute.

Factual Background

One morning in July 1994 a neighbor discovered the dead body of Nicole Lynn Koontz lying face down in her manufactured home. She had been shot three…