Lushenko

Ronald Wayne Lushenko and Robert Laverne Gillette were charged with having assaulted Vincent Santelli with a deadly weapon with intent to commit murder. A jury found them guilty of the lesser offense of assault with a deadly weapon, and they have appealed from the judgment pronounced against them.

Appellants make the following contentions as grounds for reversal of the judgment: (1) Insufficiency of the evidence to support the judgment; (2) Appellant Gillette was entitled to a separate trial; (3) The court erred in not appointing counsel other than the public defender as counsel for Gillette; (4) Misconduct on the part of the district attorney.

Disregarding all conflicts in the evidence and assuming in support of the judgment the existence of every fact which the jury could reasonably deduce from the evidence, we shall briefly summarize the evidence as shown by the record.

On the evening of July 4, 1958, a large man appeared at the door of the residence of Vincent Santelli. After receiving a glass of water from Mr. Santelli, the visitor entered Santelli’s cabin and commenced to hit Santelli with a weapon which the victim described as a tool. Santelli fought with the man. He…