Rankin v. Commonwealth

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction of voluntary manslaughter, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it permitted the admission of Defendant's statement, "It's my second one," which was made to a witness immediately following the shooting of the victim.The court of appeals held that any error in admitting evidence of the statement was harmless because Defendant had a fair trial on the merits and that substantial justice was reached. The Supreme Court held that because Defendant failed to assign error to the appellate court's holding that any error was harmless, the court of appeals judgment is affirmed. View "Rankin v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law