Burdg

The appellants, Clifford Burdg and Mollie Trau, were charged jointly with having murdered the latter’s husband, Philip Trau, and upon trial the jury found Burdg guilty of manslaughter and Mrs. Trau guilty of second degree murder. The appeals, which are taken from the judgments of conviction, are separately presented.

Insufficiency of the evidence to sustain the verdicts is one of the grounds urged for reversal by both appellants. As will hereinafter appear, however, the evidence is sharply conflicting, and such being the case the conclusions reached thereon by the jury are controlling. The following are the facts: Trau, the deceased, and appellant Mollie Trau lived in Fresno, and up to the date of the alleged homicide had been married less than six weeks. Trau was a special patrolman and worked nights. Mollie Trau and Burdg had known each other for upward of fifteen years, testimony having been introduced to the effect that at one time they lived together as husband and wife; also that since her marriage Mrs. Trau had been meeting Burdg at the home of her sister, Stella Moore, in the absence of her husband. Burdg was connected with an illegal liquor enterprise operating just…