The 2012 first degree murder conviction of Jeffrey Smithson has been upheld by the Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee.
Smithson was found guilty by a Coffee County Circuit Court Jury of first degree felony murder, theft over $1,000, first degree premeditated murdered and especially aggravated robbery in the murder of his 81-year-old aunt Virginia White in her residence in Manchester Aug. 16, 2011.
The appeals court judges noted that Judge Jackson concluded that “there was no evidence that Smithson’s statement was involuntary or that he did not know what he was doing when he made statements to police” and the judge denied Smithson’s request to suppress those statements.
The appeals court upheld Smithson’s life in prison sentence for the murder. He was also sentenced to 12 years for theft over $1,000 and 25 years for especially aggravated robbery.
He remains in custody of the Tennessee Department of Corrections.
Murder Conviction Upheld
