Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor was charged by information with the murder of Booker T. Hawkins and in a jury trial she was convicted of manslaughter. Probation was denied and Mrs. Taylor was sentenced to the California Institution for Women. She appeals from the judgment and the denial of her motion for new trial.

There was evidence of the following facts. Appellant lived in a six-room house on East 52d Street in Los Angeles and rented rooms to Hawkins and one Henry Davis. At 12:45 a.m., on Saturday, August 29, 1959, a neighbor, Mrs. Franklin, answered a knock on her front door; appellant was at the door, covered with blood; when asked what happened Mrs. Taylor said “I think I hurt him; I think I hurt him pretty bad” and asked Mrs. Franklin to come outside, as “he” might be around the house; Mrs. Franklin declined to do so and appellant left the premises.

Shortly thereafter, three police officers arrived at the scene and discovered Hawkins’ body lying beside a car in the driveway between appellant’s home and the Franklin residence. Upon searching the house, they found blood on the floor and walls of the center bedroom, blood on the front door and a trail of blood leading to the body. Hawkins…