Opinion ID: 853560
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Whether the trial court properly admitted several hearsay statements.

Text: In the early morning of May 31, 1997, Debra Damron went to the home of her mother, Barbara Marshall, and found Marshall dead, lying on her living room floor in a pool of blood, amid several knives. The cause of death was a stab wound to the neck, accompanied by strangulation. Marshall's body had a total of sixty-five incisional wounds. At some point, investigation of the murder focused on James Wright, who was Marshall's neighbor. Wright then gave a statement to the police in which he admitted going to Marshall's home on May 31st. According to Wright, he went to her home to use the telephone because he was locked out of his own home. While he was using the phone, Marshall approached him with a knife. An altercation ensued, during which Wright stabbed Marshall, then fled. A search of Marshall's home uncovered two blood spots in the hallway near one of the doors. The DNA contained in this blood matched that of Wright. Wright was convicted of murder and sentenced to sixty-five years.