State of Tennessee, Appellee v. Laron Ronald Williams, Defendant-Appellant

Summary

The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed Laron Ronald Williams's first degree murder conviction and death sentence and his first degree burglary conviction (10-15 years), rejecting his challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence, the State's discovery response, the denial of funds for a hair-analysis expert, the qualification of a fingerprint expert, the admission of his taped post-arrest statement, the admission of FBI hair-comparison testimony, improper sentencing-phase prosecutorial remarks, and the constitutionality of the death penalty statute. Viewing the proof most favorably to the State, the court concluded a rational jury could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt despite loose ends such as non-matching shoeprints and fingerprints, and that the stipulated prior murder convictions statutorily supported the death sentence. Justice Brock concurred in all respects except that, consistent with his prior dissent in State v. Dicks, he would have held the death penalty unconstitutional.