Peterson v. State

The defendant initially told police that his 15-year-old girlfriend was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting, then blamed a family acquaintance, before finally taking responsibility for the shooting.

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Allen James Peterson was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to life imprisonment for the shooting death of Dyniesha Smith. He appeals from the denial of his motion for a new trial.1 Finding no reversible error, we affirm. 1. The evidence authorized the jury to find that, on the day of the crimes, appellant and Smith, his fifteen-year-old girlfriend, were together in appellant’s parents’ home. The shooting occurred during an argument about appellant’s involvement with another girl. Appellant’s mother, who was in the house during the incident, heard a “pop” just before appellant yelled for assistance. When the mother entered appellant’s bedroom, she saw Smith lying on the floor with a fatal injury to her eye. Appellant and his father drove Smith to the hospital, and, on the way, appellant threw the handgun used in the shooting into a lake. Smith died as a result of the gunshot wound.

Upon initial questioning at the hospital, appellant told police that Smith had been shot by an unidentified perpetrator who committed a drive-by shooting. As a result of this information, the police took appellant and his father to the police station in order to interview them about the incident while their vehicle was processed as part of the investigation into appellant’s claim of a drive-by shooting. Lacking evidence to support the claim of a random shooting, the police advised appellant of his constitutional rights under Miranda v. Arizona , 384 U.S. 436 86 SC 1602, 16 LE2d 694 1966. Appellant then gave a statement to the police in which he blamed the shooting on a family acquaintance known as “Big Man.” Ultimately, during his trial testimony, appellant took responsibility for shooting Smith, but claimed that the shooting was the result of an accident and that Smith’s injury was inflicted when he tried to “unjam . . . the handgun and it just went off.”

Peterson v. State

The defendant initially told police that his 15-year-old girlfriend was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting, then blamed a family acquaintance, before finally taking responsibility for the shooting.

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