Willingham v. State

HARRIS, Judge.

Appellant was convicted of murder in the first degree and his punishment fixed at life imprisonment in the penitentiary. This was his third trial. The first two trials ended in mistrials because of hung juries.

The deceased, Sol Madden, came to his death as a result of knife wounds admittedly inflicted by appellant, who claimed self-defense. The fight between appellant and deceased took place outside a Negro dance hall in Lawrence County, Alabama, known as Otis Davis’ Dance Hall. There were no eye witnesses to the fight. According to appellant, he and his wife had been to the…