Watts v. State

The appellant was indicted in the court below, for murder in the first degree. He pleaded “ not guilty.” A jury trial resulted in a verdict of guilty of murder in the second- degree. The court overruled a motion for a new trial, and sentenced the defendant to imprisonment for life.

The first question made in this court is, that the j udge before whom the case was tried had no jurisdiction. Hon. Andrew L. Robinson was the regular judge. He had been of counsel in the cause. Hon. Morris S. Johnson, judge of the court of common pleas, presided at the trial. The record made after Judge Johnson took…