Davis v. Commonwealth

CAMMACK, Chief Justice.

Charley Davis was sentenced to 21 years in prison on a charge of voluntary manslaughter. He is asking reversal of the judgment on the grounds that (1) he should have been granted a continuance; and (2) the trial judge erred in failing to give an instruction on defense of habitation.

Davis shot and killed Elza Smith sometime after midnight on September 1, 1951. The killing took place outside a window of a store belonging to John Hollin, where Davis worked as a clerk. Smith went into the store shortly after midnight and he and Davis began arguing over the purchase of a…