Sampo

The defendant and one Stefano Conte were jointly charged by information with the crime of murder. They were awarded separate trials, and the defendant, having been tried on said information, was found guilty by the jury of murder of the second degree.

The cause is brought to this court by an appeal from the judgment and from the order denying defendant’s motion for a new trial.

No question is raised as to the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict, but it is claimed by the defendant for a reversal: 1. That the information does not correctly state the crime of murder and that, therefore, the demurrer thereto should have been sustained; 2. That the court erred in its rulings in disallowing challenges to certain jprors; 3. That certain rulings of the court involving the question of the admissibility of certain evidence were erroneous; and 4. That the rejection of certain instructions proposed by the defendant constituted serious and- prejudicial error.

The homicide, or rather the difficulty which resulted in the death of the deceased a few hours thereafter, occurred in Drytown, Amador county, on the nineteenth day of Novem her, 1910. The facts as disclosed by the…