William D. Carroll, Jr. v. State of Tennessee

Summary

The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed William D. Carroll, Jr.'s rape conviction and death-by-electrocution sentence, holding that the jury's verdict approved by the trial judge established the credibility of the State's witnesses and that the evidence, including circumstantial corroboration of the prosecutrix's testimony, did not preponderate in favor of innocence. It held that Mrs. Sneed's testimony about defendant's knife-point sexual assault on her in the adjoining apartment was properly admissible as part of the same transaction and to disprove his claimed mistake, and it sustained the trial court's refusal of special outcry instructions, its adherence to established procedure barring an opening statement of defense theory, and the death penalty as within lawful limits. No separate opinions were filed.