Bocknight v. State

MORROW, Judge.

Under an indictment for murder, appellant was convicted of manslaughter, and punishment assessed at confinement in the penitentiary for a period of five years. A reversal is sought upon the ground that in view of the weakness of the State’s case, and the importance of the alleged testimony of an absent witness, the court, having overruled an application for continuance, abused his discretion in refusing to grant a new trial.

The appellant, a negro youth nineteen years of age, shot and killed the deceased, a negro boy about seventeen years of age. The homicide occurred at night,…