People v. Bell

Statement of the Case

After separate nonjury trials defendants Bell and Jackson were convicted of the murder of William E. Hall. At the conclusion of each trial the judge presiding announced his determination that the murder had been committed in the course of robbery and was therefore murder of the first degree. Each defendant has appealed from the judgment declaring him guilty of murder of the first degree and sentencing him to state prison for the term prescribed by law.

Since the trial record in each case discloses evidence establishing the guilt of both appellants to a moral certainty, and since the sufficiency of that evidence is unquestioned, it is unnecessary to recite the distressing details of the murder which both trial judges aptly described as brutal, vicious and coldblooded.

It is sufficient to state that on the night of the murder the victim, while en route to his place of employment, stopped his car and picked up the hitchhiking appellants who promptly proceeded to reward his act of generosity by robbing and killing him. Mr. Hall’s death was caused by a gunshot wound- in the head. The gun, held in the hand of Jackson, was fired from a distance of…