Ellison v. State

STAKELY, Justice.

Bertha Ellison '(appellant) was indicted for the murder of Chester P. Raley. Upon the trial the jury returned a verdict of murder in the second degree and fixed the punishment at 25 years 'in the penitentiary. The pivotal question on this appeal is whether the motion for a new trial should have been granted for insufficiency of the evidence. The evidence is circumstantial. It is the position of the state that Bertha Ellison fired the fatal shot that killed Chester P. Raley while Bertha Ellison insists that Chester Raley shot himself.

The law is ever solicitous that only the…