People v. Bennett

Defendant, informed against for the crime of murder, was adjudged guilty of murder in the first degree and the death penalty was imposed. From this judgment and from the order denying his motion for a new trial he appeals.

Upon appeal the contention is most earnestly urged that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the verdict of murder in the first degree, and that a verdict of manslaughter, at the most, is all that the evidence warrants.

The prosecution showed that John D. Stirling, the deceased, was foreman on a stock ranch in Monterey County; that defendant, previous to the homicide, had…