Appellate panel weighs whether dying declaration naming 'Seth' should have been admitted in Denton murder appeal

An appellate panel heard argument over whether a dying declaration identifying the shooter was admissible in the 2015 Sullivan County triple-homicide convictions of Robert Denton.

At the outset, defense counsel summarized the case facts: Denton was convicted of three counts of first-degree premeditated murder after the state says he entered his grandparents’ kitchen with a rifle and killed his mother, grandmother and stepfather while six children, including an eight-year-old identified in the record only as CP, were present. Counsel told the court the appeal raises three issues: sufficiency of evidence for aggravated assault as to a child in the kitchen (identified in the record as SH), the admissibility and competency foundation for a dying declaration attributed to Mr. Millhorn, and disputes over certain photographs admitted at trial.

Defense counsel focused most of argument on the dying-declaration issue. Counsel said Mr. Millhorn, the wounded declarant, was found outside the home paralyzed and bleeding after two gunshot wounds, and that he told both his father-in-law, Mr. Rose, and an EMT that “[the defendant] shot me.” Counsel argued trial counsel did not…