People v. Cooley

The defendant, Donnell Cooley, known as Spade Cooley in the amusement world, was convicted by a jury of murder in the first degree for the killing of his wife, Ella Mae. Thereafter, he withdrew his additional plea of not guilty by reason of insanity and waived a jury with respect to fixing the penalty for his crime. The trial judge sentenced 'him to life imprisonment. There was no motion for a new trial. A notice of appeal was filed in due course.

We shall be as concise as reasonably possible in stating the significant facts shown in the more than 2,750 pages of the reporter’s transcript. In…