People v. Murphy

Defendant was convicted of murder, and prosecutes this appeal from the judgment and order denying his motion for a new trial.

He was one of several convicts who escaped from the state prison at Folsom on the morning of July 27, 1903. Most of the convicts engaged in the escape were armed, either with knives, razors, or dynamite. In the very beginning of the outbreak, and during the first attack or rush into the captain’s office, Cotter, one of the guards, was stabbed by one Andy Myers, a fellow-convict, and died from the wounds so received.

Defendant was convicted upon the theory that he was engaged in a conspiracy to unlawfully escape from the prison, and that the life of Cotter was taken by a fellow-conspirator while all were engaged in the unlawful attempt to consummate and carry out such conspiracy. It is not claimed that the evidence was insufficient to justify the verdict, but certain errors are claimed in denying challenges to jurors, in sustaining or overruling objections to evidence, and in giving or refusing instructions. We will discuss those deemed most plausible.

1. The claim is made that the court erred in denying defendants-challenges to the jurors Herzog and…