State v. Graves

The appellant, 24 years old, was convicted óf murder in the second degree in the circuit court of Howard county on change of venue from Randolph county, and his punishment assessed by a jury at 31 years’ imprisonment in the penitentiary for fatally shooting one George Erickson, 60 or 65 years old. The sole defense on the merits was self-defense. Appellant assigns eight procedural errors, which we shall discuss in order after stating the facts briefly.

The State’s evidence showed that the appellant and deceased and some other negroes lived together at Moberly in a small house near the railroad…