Dean

Defendant appeals from a judgment whereby he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife.

The attorneys to whom his defense was intrusted not only failed to file any brief in support of the appeal, but on the day set for the hearing thereof, o!’ which they had due notice, made no appearance in his behalf. Owing to the gravity of the offense of which defendant was convicted, the deputy attorney-general hesitated to move for a dismissal of the appeal under and pursuant to section 1253 of the Penal Code; whereupon other attorneys acting' as amici curiae, offered to examine the record of upward of six hundred pages and assist the court by filing a brief in the case. With the aid of the brief so filed, wherein attention has been directed to what they conceive to be reversible error disclosed by the transcript, the court has examined i:he voluminous record presented.

Defendant and his wife were engaged in the business of conducting a restaurant in the city of Brawley, Imperial County. A woman by the name of Carrie Gunderson was in the employ.of defendant as a waitress. The presence of this woman was the cause of frequent quarrels between defendant and his wife, the…