Messick v. State

The prosecutor's closing remark that the defendant could have left a bloody footprint found at the murder scene did not violate the state's narrow stipulation eliminating a single pair of the defendant's boots as the source of the footprint.

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A jury convicted Shane August Messick of the malice murder of Thomas James Hampton and Brandi Hampton.1 Messick contends that the prosecutor violated a stipulation when he argued that the defendant made a bloody footprint found at the murder scene. Because the prosecutor’s argument did not violate the parties’ stipulation and his statement could be reasonably inferred from other evidence, we affirm. 1. The evidence presented at trial shows that the Hamptons’ next-door neighbor heard firecrackers around 9 p.m. on July 2, looked out a window, and saw a red Mustang drive off at a high rate of speed. When she hollered for Brandi Hampton, the Hamptons’ young son came running out of the house and across the yard, crying “Mommy’s dead.” A neighbor who lived across the highway heard six to eight gunshots, ran into her front yard, and saw a small red car taking off “like a scalded dog” towards town. Two Cedartown residents saw a red car at dusk speed down their narrow street to a cemetery that is located one street over from Messick’s house.

Police found the Hamptons lying dead on their living room floor. Tommy Hampton had been shot once in the forehead at close range and three times in the back, and Brandi Hampton had been shot in the head, chest, and arm. A firearms examiner testified that the cartridge cases and bullets recovered at the scene were fired from Messick’s FEG 9-millimeter pistol, which police obtained from his family.

Messick v. State

The prosecutor's closing remark that the defendant could have left a bloody footprint found at the murder scene did not violate the state's narrow stipulation eliminating a single pair of the defendant's boots as the source of the footprint.

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