Keel

Defendant was accused of the murder of Reuben Brice and was convicted of manslaughter. He appeals from the judgment and from an order denying his motion for a new trial. About midnight of September 3, 1927, a number of people of both sexes were attending a party at 1236 East Twenty-fifth Street, in the city of Los Angeles, at which the guests were dancing. Defendant arrived late at the party in company with Mrs. Gertrude Simpson. He objected to her dancing with two of the men present, McAfee and Brice. Later an altercation took place in the street in front of the house and a fight ensued, in which a number of men were engaged and in which several were cut. In the course of the fight Brice received a cut which caused his death. Statements of the various witnesses as to what occurred at the time of this trouble are in hopeless conflict. They differ as to the number and location of the “fights,” the number of participants therein and the part taken by each participant. Not only did the eye-witnesses contradict each other, but most of them, if not all, gave testimony in conflict with their own sworn statements. No witness could swear that he saw the first blow struck in the fight or…