Matthew

This appeal is by the defendants Williams and Pope, who, with the defendants Matthew, Warmley, and Sinnel, were jointly charged with the murder of one Coleman Stone, the proprietor of a grocery at Bell Station, near the city of Los Angeles. The defendant Warmley, it would seem, was not apprehended. The remaining four defendants were tried jointly. Matthew and Sinnel were convicted of murder in the first degree, the death penalty was imposed upon them, and they have taken an appeal to the supreme court. The defendants Pope and Williams were convicted of murder in the second degree, and now appeal to this court from the judgment of conviction and from the order denying their motion for a new trial.

The appeal to this court is based upon the alleged insufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict against Pope and Williams, upon asserted errors of law in admitting and in- excluding evidence and in giving and refusing certain instructions, and upon alleged misconduct of the district attorney.

It is, of course, well settled that if the evidence which bears against the accused, considered by itself and without regard to conflicting evidence, is sufficient to support the verdict,…