Opinion ID: 746275
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Change of Theory at Penalty Phase

Text: 15 The prosecution's theory during the guilt phase was that Willie Luckett killed Marilyn Wilkins, and that Kilgore was guilty of aiding and abetting Luckett. After Dickerson testified that Kilgore admitted doing the killing himself, the prosecution changed its theory, and during the penalty phase argued that Kilgore was the killer. Kilgore argues that this change in theories violated his constitutional rights. The District Court rejected his argument. The Court attributed the surprising nature of the change to the unusual confluence of events during Kilgore's trial, rather than to prosecutorial misconduct. We see no error in the District Court's analysis. The prosecution, upon learning for the first time (from Dickerson) that Kilgore had been the killer (or had admitted the killing) could hardly be expected not to use the information. At this point, Kilgore had already been convicted of capital murder. The change in theory might, in fact, have helped Kilgore, by giving the jury some reason to suspect the soundness of the prosecution's evidence.