State v. Trotter

CLEMENS, Presiding Judge.

A jury found defendant Herbert Trotter guilty of second degree murder by twice shooting Eugene Smith. The jury could not agree on punishment and the trial court sentenced Trotter to 35 years’ imprisonment.

Defendant Trotter appeals, contending error in permitting the State to cross examine its own witness, by allowing the State’s eyewitness to relate threats made against her, and the trial court’s failure to instruct on manslaughter. We relate the evidence relative to these points, all from the State’s case. The defense was an alibi.

The decedent Eugene Smith lived with…