Frank Byrd v. United States

Appellant, indicted for murder in the second degree, was convicted of man slaughter. He alleges error on the part of the court below in denying his motion for a continuance of his trial, in failing to direct a judgment of acquittal, and in failing properly to charge the jury with respect to his relationship with the premises in which the crime was committed.

The motion for continuance was based on the alleged absence of, and therefore inability to interview, a witness. The basis for this motion is indeed obscure, for it appears that the witness in question was sitting in the courtroom at the…