Bailey

Appeal from a judgment directing the imprisonment of the defendant in the state penitentiary.

Appellant was charged by an information of the district attorney with the crime of murder, alleged to have been committed on or about the fifteenth day of December, 1917, in the county of Imperial. There were two trials, the jury having disagreed at the first and upon the second returned a verdict of manslaughter, carrying the recommendation that there be imposed “the minimum sentence.” In view of the point made by appellant that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the conviction, we will relate the story of the crime, as the evidence shows it, with considerable detail, giving particular emphasis to all of the testimony introduced on behalf of the prosecution which, it is claimed, tends to show the defendant’s guilt: On December 15, 1917, appellant was the owner of a small store at a little place called Rockwood, in Imperial County. The deceased was a friend of the defendant and resided alone in a small house or cabin a short distance away from the store—just how far does not appear. The deceased took his meals with appellant at the store. Another man, named Curran, was at the time…