Martinez

By information filed by the district attorney defendant was charged with the crime of murder. Upon trial therefor he was convicted of murder in the second degree, the judgment of the court being that he be imprisoned in the state prison at Folsom for a term of thirty years. From this judgment, and an order denying his motion for a new trial, he prosecutes this appeal.

The evidence upon which defendant was convicted was of an entirely circumstantial nature. The court, following the elementary rule that where such evidence is relied upon to establish the guilt of the accused it should be sufficient to exclude every rational hypothesis other than that of guilt, instructed the jury clearly and fully thereon. We must assume the jury, in considering the circumstances established, followed this instruction and by the verdict rendered determined that the circumstances were inconsistent with any theory other than that defendant committed the crime. Where the circumstances are such as to reasonably justify an inference of guilt, as found by the jury, the fact that an inference of innocence might likewise be reasonably drawn therefrom does not present a question of law for review by an…