State v. Porter

MITCHELL, Chief Justice.

Defendant, Willie Eric Porter, was tried capitally upon proper indictments for first-degree arson and for three counts of first-degree murder at the 21 June 1993 Criminal Session of Superior Court, Hertford County. The jury returned verdicts finding defendant guilty of first-degree arson and guilty of three counts of first-degree murder on the basis of premeditation and deliberation and under the felony-murder rule.

At the end of the capital sentencing proceeding, the jury recommended a sentence of life imprisonment for each of the three first-degree murder convictions.…