Nashville man gets new murder trial

A Nashville man accused of murder will be granted a new trial, the Tennessee Supreme Court said Monday.

In 1999, a Davidson County jury convicted Ernest Edward Wilson of second-degree murder. Wilson was sentenced to 24 years in prison for the shooting death of Marshall Frank Holt Jr. in Hadley Park near Tennessee State University.

At trial, Wilson testified that, while he and Holt had argued on the morning of the shooting and had been using drugs together for several days prior, he had not intended to shoot or kill Holt. Wilson maintains that he was firing warning shots at Holt, who was carrying a knife, when a bullet accidentally hit the victim in the back. The prosecution has argued that the shooting was premeditated, in part because Wilson believed Holt had stolen a dress owned by his wife.

Attorneys for Wilson have argued that Davidson County Judge Randall Wyatt Jr. was in error when he did not present the jury with the options of charging Wilson with either reckless homicide or criminally negligent homicide. Instead, the jury was only presented the option of charging Wilson with first-degree murder, second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter.