Cavitt

Defendants James Freddie Cavitt and Robert Nathaniel Williams were convicted in separate trials of the felony murder of 58-year-old Betty McKnight, the stepmother of Cavitt’s girlfriend, Mianta McKnight. Defendants admitted plotting with Mianta to enter the McKnight home, to catch Betty unawares and tie her up, and to steal Betty’s jewelry and other property. On the evening of December 1, 1995, with Mianta’s assistance, the plan went forward. Defendants entered the house, threw a sheet over Betty’s head, bound this hooded sheet to her wrists and ankles with rope and duct tape, and escaped with guns, jewelry, and other valuables from the bedroom. Betty was beaten and left hog-tied, facedown on the bed. Her breathing was labored. Before leaving, defendants made it appear that Mianta was a victim by pretending to tie her up as well. By the time Mianta untied herself and called her father to report the burglary-robbery, Betty had died from asphyxiation.

The evidence at trial amply supported a finding that defendants were the direct perpetrators of the murder. However, there was also evidence that tended to support the defense theory—namely, that Mianta deliberately…