Westcott

After a trial upon an indictment charging him with the murder of Charles G. Westcott, the appellant was convicted of murder in the first degree, and his punishment was fixed at imprisonment for life. He appeals from the judgment and from an order denying his motion for a new trial.

Charles G. Westcott was the father of appellant, and lived in the city of Los Angeles. On this appeal it is eon- ceded that he was murdered by someone on October 20, 1926. About 8 o’clock in the evening of that day he was sitting in the living-room of his house with his wife. The doorbell rang and the deceased arose, went to the door and opened it. After opening it, he said “Oh!” immediately following which two shots were fired from the front porch; then he shut the door, said to his wife, “Call the police,” and fell over backward, with a fatal wound in the abdomen. He never arose from this position, but later was lifted into an ambulance and died on the way to the hospital about one-half hour after he was shot. No witness saw the person by whom the fatal shots were fired. The evidence tending to identify the appellant as the perpetrator of the crime is entirely circumstantial, unless we except from…