Stearns v. State

MERRILL, Justice.

Appellant was convicted of murder in the second degree and sentenced to twenty-five years in the penitentiary. His motion for a new trial was overruled and he appealed.

The defendant shot and killed the deceased sometime after 1:30 A.M. on October 2, 1955. There was evidence that deceased was about drunk and that defendant had been drinking. Both were Negroes.

Because the judgment of conviction must be reversed, we discuss only two of the four instances in which it is argued that reversible error occurred. The other two should not arise on another trial.

The defendant had taken…