Holmes

Defendants were jointly indicted and tried for the murder of one C. A. Mars in the city and county of San Francisco, on the tenth day of March, 1896. They were convicted of involuntary manslaughter, and sentenced to one year in the state penitentiary. The appeal is from the judgment and the order denying motion for new trial.

The verdict is claimed to be erroneous for: 1. Insufficiency of evidence to support it; and 2. To be either void or in effect an acquittal by reason of its form. That portion of the verdict drawn in question is as follows:

1. When the verdict was brought in, the court refused to receive it, and directed the jury to reconsider if and to strike out the words “not a felony55; the jury again returned the verdict without change, and it was duly recorded. It is now said this was error, and also that the verdict was in effect an acquittal. The *448 court pursued the statute closely, and there is no serious question except as to the effect of the verdict. It is certainly informal, and the words, “not a felony,” if given effect, contradict the words “guilty of involuntary manslaughter,” which is a felony. It is made the duty of the court, by section 1161 of the…