State of Missouri, Respondent v. John Middleton, Appellant

Summary

The Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed Middleton's first-degree murder conviction and death sentence after rejecting his challenges to identification evidence, searches, jury selection, trial rulings, penalty-phase evidence, and proportionality review. The court held that the identification was reliable, the challenged searches and seizures were lawful, the evidentiary and instructional rulings did not constitute reversible error, and the aggravating circumstances and death sentence were supported by the evidence. No separate opinions were filed.