State v. Gray

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Allen, J. :

The appellant, Anderson Gray, and one Thomas McDonald were jointly charged with having murdered Thomas Patton, in Sumner county, on the 5th of May 1894. The defendant, Gray, was separately tried and convicted of murder in the first degree. From that conviction he has appealed to this court.

The evidence clearly shows that the gunshot which killed Patton was actually discharged by McDonald, and that Gray was not, in fact, present at the shooting. The theory of the prosecution was that Gray counseled and incited McDonald to commit the .murder.…