Stogsdill v. State
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
552 S.W.2d 481 (1977)
- Written by Carolyn Strutton, JD
Facts
Kenneth Stogsdill (defendant) was charged with the murder of Billy Price. Price’s body was found nude, stabbed, and beaten, and had been sexually mutilated. During the trial, only circumstantial evidence of Stogsdill’s guilt was presented. This evidence included Price’s clothes and personal belongings that had been found close to the crime scene, testimony by two individuals who recounted previous encounters with Stogsdill in which he had been violent or had threatened similar mutilation, testimony that the tire treads and tracks of Stogsdill’s truck were similar to those found at the crime scene, and testimony that hairs found in Stogsdill’s truck were similar to Price’s hair. The prosecution failed to establish that the tracks were definitively caused by Stogsdill’s truck, or that the hair found in the truck was definitively Price’s hair, and failed to provide any evidence placing Stogsdill in Price’s company, in possession of any of Price’s belongings, or at the scene of the crime. Stogsdill was convicted and sentenced to death. Stogsdill appealed, alleging that the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Davis, C.)
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