James Arthur Sikes v. State Tennessee

COOPER, Justice. OPINION James Arthur Sikes was convicted of first degree murder for the shotgun slaying of his seventeen
year old stepson, Steve Johnson, and was sentenced to serve forty years in the penitentiary. On appeal, the Court of Criminal
Appeals affirmed the conviction. This court granted certiorari for the limited purpose of considering whether the evidence
was sufficient to warrant a conviction of murder in the first degree. It is undisputed in the record that Steve Johnson died at about 8:00 p.m., eastern daylight time, on April 18, 1973, from
a wound in the back caused by pellets from a 20 gauge pump shotgun fired by the defendant.