Taylor v. Commonwealth

This writ of error brings under review the second conviction of Edward V. Taylor for involuntary manslaughter on the same indictment for murder. The first conviction was reversed by this court pursuant to an opinion by a divided court, reported in 185 Va. 224, 38 S. E. (2d) 440, on the ground that one of the instructions given constituted reversible error.

The evidence introduced in the two trials was substantially the same and need not be repeated. It is sufficient to say that the evidence for the Commonwealth tended to prove murder in the first degree with no ameliorating circumstances and…