People v. Lee Gow

The defendants were convicted of murder in the first degree and the jury fixed the punishment at imprisonment for life. The appeal is from the judgment and the order denying a motion for a new trial. That a foul murder was committed is not disputed. It was deliberate, premeditated, and malicious. It was one of a series of bloody episodes that attended what is known as a “tong war” between rival societies of Chinese. The principal contention in the case is in reference to the defense of “alibi,” upon which appellants relied. It must be admitted that their claim in that regard was strongly supported. Not only Chinese witnesses, but several Caucasians, including prominent members of the police force of the city of Stockton, testified positively that the defendants were in said city on the very day and at the very hour when the offense was committed near Gridley, in the county of Butte. Their testimony was entirely inconsistent with the theory of the guilt of the defendants, as the time of - the murder was definitely fixed. But the jury, probably believing that some of the witnesses were mistaken and that others were falsifying, rejected their said statements, and based their verdict…