State v. Eaton

Defendant was found guilty of murder in the second degree and senténced to eighteen years in the penitentiary. On his appeal defendant raises only two points: The introduction in evidence and exhibition to the jury of an army overcoat worn by the deceased, William Van Ross, at the time he was shot by defendant; and the giving of Instruction No. 7 covering self-defense.

Defendant and Harold Simmonds had an argument with Andrew Hawkins, a colored man, at the Harlem Club in St. Joseph, during which Hawkins drew a gun on Simmonds. After visiting other places and taking several drinks of whiskey,…