James v. State

FAIR, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Rundall James was convicted of murdering his great aunt, Zelphia Ivory, by pouring hot cooking oil on her as she slept. Ivory died before she could give a statement to the authorities. The State built a case against James showing that he had threatened to “burn” Ivory for making his dog sick and that he had been in the house a short time before the attack. However, the State’s key witnesses— James’s brother and his girlfriend — suggested James had left before the attack and testified that Ivory could not identify her attacker. The prosecution then impeached its own…