Simmons v. State

Paul Ward, Associate Justice.

Appellant, a Negro man 63 years old, was convicted of murder in the first degree for the slaying of George Wells on the early morning of October 20, 1956. The deceased and another white man named Fred Watkins were discovered by appellant in a car with a Negro woman, Hattie Mae Williams, parked near the house where appellant and his family lived. Circumstances later developed left no doubt that the white men and the Negro woman were engaging in a prolonged orgy of drinking and immoral conduct.

When appellant approached the car one of the men called him a revolting…