Worthington

Defendant has been convicted of the crime *584 of muider in the first degree and sentenced to imprisonment for life. His counsel now strenuously contend that the evidence at most only shows a case of manslaughter. The facts surrounding the homicide are few, and it can hardly be said that a substantial conflict is disclosed by the evidence upon any important matter.

The defendant Worthington, the deceased Motley, and Capt. Motley, his son, all worked upon a ranch. In its general features the trouble may be pictured by the following statement: In the early morning angry words arose between the deceased and. the defendant, and they engaged in a scuffle. Thereupon, possibly at the suggestion of the deceased, his son injected himself into the altercation and struck the defendant a violent blow upon the head with a heavy stick. Thereafter the defendant struck deceased with a stick, and the parties were then separated. Defendant at this time threatened to go to the house and get his gun. The deceased and his son turned toward the bam, and defendant proceeded to the house, a distance of four hundred and thirteen feet. Almost upon his arrival at the house he saw a man coming from the…