Curry

Defendants Curry and James appeal from the judgments entered against them following a nonjury trial that resulted in their conviction of the crime of first degree murder.

The evidence herein, which was presented by way of the transcript of the testimony given at appellants’ preliminary hearing, indicates that on June 12, 1963, at approximately 9:45 p.m., one Clyde Bollinger, who was working as the attendant at a gas station in Compton, California, staggered *147 into a nearby shop bleeding from the nose, eyes and mouth and holding his stomach. He informed the persons there present that he had been shot “over by the register” by a colored man who had run away in a northerly direction.

One of these persons testified that he had hurried to a telephone to call an ambulance but that by the time he returned, the victim was dead. He died from a gunshot wound in the chest which penetrated his heart and right lung. The victim appeared to have been in good health and condition when he talked to this witness five minutes earlier. This witness believed that the victim had used the word “register,” although he admitted it could have been “rest room,” since the police said that the pool of…